PENSACOLA BEACH -- Florida's top elections chief, smarting from eight years of negative attention since the chaotic 2000 presidential race, warned county elections officials Wednesday that November's vote ``will make or break Florida.''

Florida counties that have been using touchscreen voting machines -- including Miami-Dade and Broward -- are switching in August to new machines that use paper ballots and optical scanners, after Gov. Charlie Crist pushed through the change last year. For many voters this will be their third voting system in the past decade.

Secretary of State Kurt Browning said that any problems, whether in a large urban county or small county, would make the entire state look bad, reinforcing the image that will be on display this weekend when HBO debuts the film Recount, which covers the 36 days that followed the close election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

The Bush-Gore election exposed serious flaws with the state's election system.

''The reality is this is Florida, this is a presidential election,'' said Browning, who made his remarks at the annual summer conference of elections supervisors. ``The world is literally watching everything you do. . . . We all have had to live down a stigma we did not deserve.''

Starting with the August primary, 17 counties will use voting systems different from ones used in 2006 and the Jan. 29 presidential primary. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach are among those going from ATM-styled touchscreen machines to optical scan/paper ballots. State lawmakers last year set aside $28 million to help pay for the new machines.

Many election supervisors remain anxious about the speed with which the state is moving to paper ballots and how well voters will adjust during a hotly contested presidential election.

''I don't think it would be normal not to be anxious when you are facing something as monumental as this,'' said Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes. ``There's an awful lot of pressure, there's an awful lot of planning.''

Miami-Dade County officials remain so unsure about the upcoming election they have refused so far to return 5,000 touchscreen machines to the state until they are convinced that the new optical-scan machines will work as advertised. As part of an agreement to get state money to buy the new machines, Miami-Dade must eventually hand over the old ones.

But Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor Lester Sola said one big hang-up is that the state has yet to approve new computer software that will allow Miami-Dade to print ballots in multiple languages.

''We are ready to use the new equipment, but we want to have a backup plan,'' said Sola, who conceded that the county can't use touchscreen machines after July 1 unless the state were to waive the new law.

The elections chief is also worried that voters may not understand how to use the paper ballots.

Two counties -- Palm Beach and Indian River -- will have an unusual twist for their voters. While voters in other counties will be asked to fill out an oval next to a candidate's name, Palm Beach and Indian River voters must fill in an arrow pointing to the name. Back in 2000, Palm Beach was the home of the infamous ''butterfly ballot'' that confused some voters.

Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Arthur Anderson, who was not the supervisor in 2000, said the county has used the arrow in the past for absentee ballots.

All South Florida supervisors acknowledge the need to let voters and poll workers know soon about the scope of the changes. Early voting for the August primary starts on Aug. 11. Miami-Dade County will kick off a voter education effort on Friday.

''We're under the microscope,'' said Anderson.

Indian River Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem, who has complained that scrapping the touchscreen machines is a ''waste of money,'' predicted that Florida will probably wind up changing its voting systems again after the 2008 election.

''I don't think that everyone will be happy this time,'' Clem said.

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