St. Petersburg, Fla. • Mark Toepfer came to this spit of sand on the Tampa Bay shore to soak up the sun, drink a beer and maybe do a little fishing — not to talk about elections.
But talk he did when asked for his thoughts on whether Florida, as a judge recently put it, is "the laughingstock of the world" when it comes to voting.
"We're the only state that has problems year after year," the shirtless 58-year-old said, shaking his head. "Why is it like this? Is it the people in charge? Are our machines not like other states' machines?