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November2008November2008November2008SequoiaOptech InsightSequoiaOptech InsightPremierAccuVote-OSFloridaFloridaFloridaPalm Beach County, FLThe Palm Beach Post reported that delays in thetabulation of election results were caused “whencomputers were unable to read cartridges fromoptical scanners at six polling sites. . . . Exactly whatcaused the cartridges to malfunction was unclear, saidAssistant County Administrator Brad Merriman.” 334Palm Beach County, FLAn optical scanner jammed at a local precinctaccording to local NBC affiliate WPTV. Voters thushad to place their votes in the “Emergency BallotBox” to be scanned later. As one voter put it: “‘Ivoted. I went to put my vote in the machine and themachine was clogged, so they said ‘stick it in this side’which is the emergency bin and I couldn't put it inthere because the emergency bin was full,’ says LizHuhn of West Palm Beach.” Thus, “[m]any ballotsended up in cardboard boxes . . . .” According toWPTV, “[e]lections officials sa[id] ballots that didnot go through the machines, w[ould] be runthrough the machines . . . after everyone in line hasvoted.” 335Manatee County, FLAccording to the Herald Tribune, “a softwareproblem . . . prevent[ed] Manatee elections officialsfrom counting nine of the county's voting precinctsand two-thirds of the ballots cast during early voting.When the ballots [were] attempted to be uploadedinto the county voting system, [election officials]g[o]t an error message that prevent[ed] the tallying ofthose votes.” 336November2008ES&SDS-200FloridaA later Herald Tribune report indicated that “[a]simple change in one Manatee County race, where acandidate dropped out . . . , caused the Premiersoftware program known as GEMS to lock up. Thatprevented the counting of 46,000 ballots on Tuesdaynight, Supervisor of Elections Bob Sweat said.”Manatee officials eventually “fixed the glitch; resultswere released at noon and no election outcomeschanged.” 337Thirteen Florida CountiesA study from the Florida Fair Elections Center showsthat counties using the ES&S DS200, which in the56 | Brennan Center for Justice