Investigators from the secretary of states office are in Palm Beach County trying to determine how an error in the countys electronic-tabulating software resulted in the wrong results in two races.
Until I hear back from my people, were not going to make any conclusions or any ideas of what happened, Secretary of State Ken Detzner said Tuesday.
With the 2012 elections on the horizon, Detzner said members of his office are working with local elections officials and makers of the hardware and software.
Any time there is irregularity in an election it would cause some concern, said Detzner.
He added that 15 other municipal elections in the county on March 13 had no errors.
In two of the three Wellington races on March 13, the incorrect winners were tabulated, with the local canvassing board certifying the results three days later.
If the new results are correct, Matt Willhite beat Al Paglia, not vice-versa, and John Greene beat Shauna Hostetler. Also, Bob Margolis barely hung on for a victory over incumbent Mayor Darell Bowen. The previous figures showed him winning by a landslide.
Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher has blamed the computer system for reorganizing the order of the races where the errors took place.
Palm Beach County, ground zero for the 2000 election debacle in Florida that pushed the state to require electronic tabulating machines, contracts its voting and tabulating equipment from Dominion Voting Systems, which also supplies Indian River and Duval counties.
Detzner said hes confident, based on the recent Republican presidential preference primary, that the state system works.
Im confident we have good systems, the supervisors are doing their job, and Im confident this may be a very isolated situation and well take the corrective action, Detzner said.
He declined to say whether the "corrective action" could include action against Bucher.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
