Josh Rogin, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Robert Wexler, (D-Fla.), confirmed Wednesday that Crist will include the initiative as part of his proposed state budget. "The governor will announce that significant funds will be a part of his budget to ensure a paper trail will be available throughout the state."

More than US$20 million is expected to be earmarked for the replacement project in the budget proposal, Rogin said.

Wexler has been working feverishly in Congress for the last six years to improve the accuracy of his state's elections, Rogin said. Those concerns were fueled by election problems that surfaced during the 2000 presidential election in the state. It eventually took a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to decide that Republican Gov. George W. Bush of Texas would be awarded the state's electoral votes over Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Gore, giving Bush the presidency. Continuing problems have emerged since then, including in the 2004 presidential election and in a Congressional race last year.

Erin Isaac, Crist's press secretary, declined to comment on the pending announcement. "We look forward to rolling our plan out tomorrow," she said.

Election disputes have been headline news in the state for several years. In November, the losing candidate in a disputed Florida congressional election filed a lawsuit contending that glitches in electronic voting machines in Sarasota County were the main reason for some 18,000 allegedly undercounted, or missing, votes there in the Nov. 7 election.