COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Poll workers will not be allowed to take voting machines home for safekeeping in the days before the November presidential election because the practice known as "sleepovers" is an unacceptable security risk, the state elections chief said Tuesday. Taking machines home makes it nearly impossible to keep track of what happens to a machine or memory card once it goes into the custody of a poll worker, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said.
The changes are meant to address actual security concerns - including the fear that machines could be tampered with - and national perceptions of Ohio's election system, which has come under fire in recent years, Brunner said.
"We want Ohio's voters and the rest of the nation to see that we have prepared a transparent process of transporting voting equipment, ballots and supplies," Brunner said in a statement.
Brunner was elected in 2006 with a promise to improve a system marred by scattered problems of long lines and poorly trained poll workers.
Twenty-three of Ohio's 88 counties have used sleepovers. Local election officials argued that the practice makes it easier to transport machines to polling sites. Otherwise, they would have to hire moving companies to distribute the machines at a cost of thousands of dollars.
Brunner said federal money will reimburse counties for the added cost, which she expects to be about $100,000 statewide. Elections officials also will be allowed to transport and store the machines at polling places ahead of time, provided the sites have fire protection equipment and other security measures.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * After I quit rolling on the floor laughing at the 'sleepover' headline for a damned voting machine, I just had to read the article. And I'm here to tell you, it is no wonder this country is as screwed up as it is.
When I was a teenager, we had 'pajama parties'--where several girls would spend the night (usually a Friday night) at one girls' home where her parents were present.
More recently, little kids are having 'overnighters' where at least one parent was present.
And now, we find that voting machines (Yep!) are doing sleepovers--and with their poll workers!
Unbelievable. Oh, we can't worry about whether an election appears rigged or not, tampered with or not.......them damned machines have gotta sleep over time at a poll workers' house.
Hello! What part of 'poll workers are political animals' do these morons not understand?