Voting in Tampa, 1970: Levers, Curtains, and a Political Scandal

Voting in Tampa, 1970: Levers, Curtains, and a Political Scandal

Today's administrators didn't invent voting controversy and complexity.

Some people think voting in 2026 is complicated. We either get a mail-in ballot, fill in the little bubbles next to our selections, seal it in an envelope, and drop it in the mail, or Hillsborough County residents can vote in person using Election Systems & Software (ES&S) DS300 optical scan voting machines. Voters fill in the bubbles on a paper ballot, then feed it into a scanner that digitally reads and tabulates their selections. The paper ballots are then dropped into a secure storage compartment beneath the scanner, providing a physical record of the vote. We can even vote weeks ahead of Election Day to accommodate our schedules.

In 1970, voting was a much more mechanical one-day affair.

Tampa residents exercised their right to vote using imposing, lever-operated voting machines as pictured above in the Gandy photo. Voters stepped inside, pulled a red lever to close the curtains behind them, and made their selections by flipping small levers next to their preferred candidates. Some races included provisions for write-in votes.

When finished, voters pulled the red lever back in the opposite direction, mechanically registering their votes and opening the curtain. A counter tracked how many people had used the machine. No paper ballots, no electronic screens, and certainly no hanging chads.

The 1970 election itself was hardly short on political drama.

Democrat Lawton Chiles won Florida's U.S. Senate race with approximately 53% of the vote, defeating Republican William C. Cramer, a 16-year veteran of Congress. Chiles prevailed despite accusations of anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism, which he denied, and a major campaign effort on Cramer's behalf by President Richard Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew, and other prominent Republicans.

Chiles served three terms in the U.S. Senate before being elected governor of Florida in 1990.

Another familiar name on the 1970 ballot was Republican Governor Claude R. Kirk Jr., who lost his reelection bid to Democrat Reuben Askew. Askew captured approximately 57% of the vote and went on to serve two terms as governor.

But voting machines were making headlines in Hillsborough County that year, and not because of questions about their accuracy.

In 1969 and 1970, Hillsborough County spent about $758,000 to purchase voting machines and make modifications. The county also sold 180 older machines for just $5,400. Those same machines were subsequently resold for more than $150,000.

The transactions triggered a federal investigation into allegations of bribery, conspiracy, and fraud. The resulting scandal produced multiple guilty pleas and convictions, although some defendants were acquitted and at least one conviction was overturned on appeal.

The manufacturer involved was the Shoup Voting Machine Corporation. It's difficult to tell whether the machines pictured here were among those involved in the controversy.

Fifty-six years later, the voting machines have changed dramatically, but political controversy surrounding elections? That's nothing new.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved