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Title: Problems crop up early in Super Tuesday voting
Source:
Raw Story
URL Source: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Probl ... op_up_early_in_Super_0205.html
Published: Feb 5, 2008
Author: Nick Juliano
Post Date: 2008-02-05 14:13:14 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 173
Comments: 6
As voters head to the polls from coast to coast Tuesday, early reports indicate that more than a few have been unable to cast ballots because of malfunctioning machines and inadequate backup plans, while more problems could crop up throughout the day. New Jersey Gov. John Corzine was one of more than a dozen voters delayed or turned away from a polling place in Hoboken, NJ, one of 24 states holding primaries or caucuses Tuesday. The Democratic governor was scheduled at his polling place around 6:15 a.m., but the two voting machines there did not work right away and a dozen or so voters were unable to cast ballots. Poll workers spent 45 minutes trying to fix the machine, and Corzine was eventually able to vote, around 7 a.m., according to a local ABC affiliate. The Garden State is one of just a handful of Super Tuesday states that persists in using "high risk" paperless touch-screen voting machines, according to public interest group Common Cause. The New York Times reports that New Jersey is joined by Delaware and Georgia in using only the paperless machines, which make "meaningful recounts ... impossible." Most polling places in Tennessee and some Arkansas locations also will use the unauditable machines. Responding to touch-screen concerns in California, election officials decided to decertify the electronic machines, forcing many counties to switch to paper ballots which take longer to count. The state is also expecting record turnout of 8.9 million voters Tuesday. About 2 million California voters mailed in their ballots, and those results will be released as soon as polls close at 8 p.m. pacific time (11 p.m. eastern), but poll workers could still be counting well into Wednesday morning. "The East Coast is going to tune in the next morning, and we are still going to be counting," Steve Weir, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, told the San Francisco Chronicle. Beyond problems with touch-screen voting machines, which also caused trouble in Florida last week, voters in several states will have to battle unfriendly weather on their way to polls or caucuses. The Associated Press reports snow or rain hit Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma, all of which vote Tuesday.
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#1. To: robin (#0)
They're easily counted the same night as the election. No problem. Voting machines are like something from "The Jetsons," a Rube Goldberg mechanical "solution" to a nonexistent problem.
Voting machines are like something from "The Jetsons," a Rube Goldberg mechanical "solution" to a nonexistent problem. I voted this morning on an e-voting machine (no name visible) that had a paper trail (surprise!). And to cast my vote I had to enter a 4 digit # that was handed to me just before I voted. The user-interface was horrible, it had a dial that had to be turned to highlight a selection and then another button for selecting what was highlighted. Finally a red button "Cast Ballot" and then I heard a printer printing on a paper roll about 4" wide under a hard plastic transparency. I saw my votes and was asked to confirm my ballot. I'm sure it will be counted electronically. In CA, 18% are voting absentee, which is how I will be voting in Nov. They said the results will not be completed this evening. I don't know why. We all need to get involved in the process. I found 3 links for CA, about how to observe the system. Bev Harris has recorded quite a bit on the irregularities uncovered in NH. No doubt every state is just as bad or worse. On the way out, there was a man who said he represented a private company that sells its exit poll results to AP, CNN, etc. There were separate forms for Dems and GOP. I filled one out for the GOP. Happily they remembered Ron Paul in the exit poll. At the end was an odd question added later, not printed on the form. "Did Guiliani endorsing McCain effect my vote?". One other oddity, the exit poll was filled out with mechanical pencils provided. So, I've got my doubts about this private firm. The human element was interesting. When I entered a very friendly older Asian man who barely spoke English was of no use getting me ushered to the right place to sign in. Then a very well dressed Asian woman almost had me sign on the wrong line, I pointed out that my first name was not that persons. I asked if they would like photo ID, they said oh no, just the sample ballot mailed to me would do. There were two old white guys, looked like veterans, sitting next to her watching in a cynical way.
Flashback no doubt.
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latestpaper ballots which take longer to count
#2. To: MUDDOG, *Ron Paul for President 2008* (#1)
They're easily counted the same night as the election. No problem.
#4. To: robin (#2)
There were two old white guys, looked like veterans, sitting next to her watching in a cynical way.
Replies to Comment # 4.