Posted on 10/19/2008 2:47:46 PM PDT by Jean S
WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.
This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".
In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.
They also blamed voters for not being more careful.
"People make mistakes more than machines," said Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright.
Shelba Ketchum, a 69-year-old nurse retired from Thomas Memorial Hospital, described what happened Friday at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield.
"I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican," she said. "I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.
"I asked them for a printout of my votes," Ketchum said. "But they said it was in the machine and I could not get it. I did not feel right when I left the courthouse. My son felt the same way.
"I heard from some other people they also had trouble. But no one in there knew how to fix it," said Ketchum, who is not related to Menis Ketchum, a Democratic Supreme Court candidate.
Ketchum's son, Chris, said he had the same problem. And Bobbi Oates of Scott Depot said her vote for incumbent Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller was switched to GOP opponent Jay Wolfe.
"I touched the one I wanted, Rockefeller, and the machine put a checkmark on the Republican instead," Oates said of her experience Thursday.
She said she caught the mistake, called over a worker in the county clerk's office and was able to correct her vote. But she worries other voters may not catch such a mistake.
When asked if she is sure she touched the box for Rockefeller, she said, "I'm absolutely positive."
Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood said on Saturday that he is upset there are "so many negative stories out there and not enough positive ones. We want people to vote. People need to know the facts.
"But we haven't had any major issues. We try to explain to voters how the machines work then they come in," Wood said.
In Putnam County, early voters have the option of asking for either touch-screen machines or optical scan ballots -- paper ballots on which people mark in their election choices.
Wood said some voters might not realize that touch-screen voting machines may take a few seconds to record their choices.
This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".
In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.
They also blamed voters for not being more careful.
"People make mistakes more than machines," said Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright.
Shelba Ketchum, a 69-year-old nurse retired from Thomas Memorial Hospital, described what happened Friday at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield.
"I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican," she said. "I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.
"I asked them for a printout of my votes," Ketchum said. "But they said it was in the machine and I could not get it. I did not feel right when I left the courthouse. My son felt the same way.
"I heard from some other people they also had trouble. But no one in there knew how to fix it," said Ketchum, who is not related to Menis Ketchum, a Democratic Supreme Court candidate.
Ketchum's son, Chris, said he had the same problem. And Bobbi Oates of Scott Depot said her vote for incumbent Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller was switched to GOP opponent Jay Wolfe.
"I touched the one I wanted, Rockefeller, and the machine put a checkmark on the Republican instead," Oates said of her experience Thursday.
She said she caught the mistake, called over a worker in the county clerk's office and was able to correct her vote. But she worries other voters may not catch such a mistake.
When asked if she is sure she touched the box for Rockefeller, she said, "I'm absolutely positive."
Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood said on Saturday that he is upset there are "so many negative stories out there and not enough positive ones. We want people to vote. People need to know the facts.
"But we haven't had any major issues. We try to explain to voters how the machines work then they come in," Wood said.
In Putnam County, early voters have the option of asking for either touch-screen machines or optical scan ballots -- paper ballots on which people mark in their election choices.
Wood said some voters might not realize that touch-screen voting machines may take a few seconds to record their choices.
"The reaction time [on the machines] may be different. And when you hit the screen a second time, it cancels your vote," Wood said. "When you get in a hurry, if you go to fast and hit it again, you can cancel what you just did.
"The main thing people need to remember is that when you are done voting, make sure everybody you wanted to vote for has a check mark beside them," Wood said.
Ketchum said, "I am educated person. I know what I wanted. I am anxious to see who wins.
"My son Chris said, 'Mom, I didn't vote for the people who came up on that machine. I wanted to go back and vote again. I called the lady at the polls and she said it was my fault because of the way I was punching the buttons.'
"I want a paper ballot. I think it was very bad when they did away with paper ballots. I wish you had something in your hand that is a record of how you voted.
"I never felt that way before. It was early voting, so we went over there to get it over with. We won't do that again," Ketchum said.
Last week, three Jackson County residents said they experienced similar problems when they cast early ballots at the county courthouse in Ripley.
Virginia Matheney, one of those voters, said Friday, "When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain."
Retired factory worker Calvin Thomas of Ripley said he experienced the same problem.
"When I pushed Obama, it jumped to McCain. When I went down to governor's office and punched [Gov. Joe] Manchin, it went to the other dude.
"After I finished, my daughter voted. When she pushed Obama, it went to McCain. It happened to her the same way it happened to me," Thomas said.
Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright, a Republican, said 400 other people voted without reporting any problems.
Wood said he and Waybright are both very careful to guarantee people's votes are recorded properly.
Wood said, "Voting machines are very reliable. I hate the fact that stories like this are printed. It makes everybody get scared.
"That is not good for anybody. Where the fault is, I don't know and the voter doesn't know. There needs to be good communication between the voters and the poll workers."
Wood offered this advice to voters: "The best way to solve this whole problem is that before you leave the voting booth, make sure on the review screen that everybody you want to vote for is checked."
More than 1,000 voters from 48 local precincts in Putnam County cast early ballots in the past three days, Wood said. Putnam County has 36,000 registered voters.
"The reaction time [on the machines] may be different. And when you hit the screen a second time, it cancels your vote," Wood said. "When you get in a hurry, if you go to fast and hit it again, you can cancel what you just did.
"The main thing people need to remember is that when you are done voting, make sure everybody you wanted to vote for has a check mark beside them," Wood said.
Ketchum said, "I am educated person. I know what I wanted. I am anxious to see who wins.
"My son Chris said, 'Mom, I didn't vote for the people who came up on that machine. I wanted to go back and vote again. I called the lady at the polls and she said it was my fault because of the way I was punching the buttons.'
"I want a paper ballot. I think it was very bad when they did away with paper ballots. I wish you had something in your hand that is a record of how you voted.
"I never felt that way before. It was early voting, so we went over there to get it over with. We won't do that again," Ketchum said.
Last week, three Jackson County residents said they experienced similar problems when they cast early ballots at the county courthouse in Ripley.
Virginia Matheney, one of those voters, said Friday, "When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain."
Retired factory worker Calvin Thomas of Ripley said he experienced the same problem.
"When I pushed Obama, it jumped to McCain. When I went down to governor's office and punched [Gov. Joe] Manchin, it went to the other dude.
"After I finished, my daughter voted. When she pushed Obama, it went to McCain. It happened to her the same way it happened to me," Thomas said.
Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright, a Republican, said 400 other people voted without reporting any problems.
Wood said he and Waybright are both very careful to guarantee people's votes are recorded properly.
Wood said, "Voting machines are very reliable. I hate the fact that stories like this are printed. It makes everybody get scared.
"That is not good for anybody. Where the fault is, I don't know and the voter doesn't know. There needs to be good communication between the voters and the poll workers."
Wood offered this advice to voters: "The best way to solve this whole problem is that before you leave the voting booth, make sure on the review screen that everybody you want to vote for is checked."
More than 1,000 voters from 48 local precincts in Putnam County cast early ballots in the past three days, Wood said. Putnam County has 36,000 registered voters.
Know what I have noticed this election? No one on the left is saying a word about Diebold. Why is that?
They’re setting up every single state for a challenge.
West Virginia appears to be making a play for Florida’s status as the state with the dumbest voters. Those shiny objects....! LOL!
Electronic voting is incredibly stupid. If if these people are making it up, it doesn’t matter. It opens the door for “user error” to make the voting process look corrupt.
BS
Little do they know that Obama works for Goldman Sachs, too, so it won't make any difference. ;)
What baloney.
My hatred for the news media grows by the day.
You never hit enter if the vote isn’t right, DUH! Every couty in this state offers both machine or punch card ballot but once you hit enter on the machine there is no do over, get a poll worker there and let them know, do not hit enter!
How hard or unlikely would it be for a group of dems to get together and agree to all say they tried to vote for 0, but couldn’t?
BS alert... This is a counter-offensive in response to the ACORN scandal to throw everyone off track. Repeat: BS Alert!
Exactly!
Racist!
BS.......................
Yes, lying BS.
Bobbi is a She and She is Barbara?
Horse cr*p. Duh?
why is it that we can have a freaking spaceship land on MARS, but we cannot have a freaking electronic voting machine that also creates an internal paper talley (like a cash register paper roll), for comparison at the end of the election?
Would be even better if it spit out your paper receipt for the voter to view after voting to make sure his choices were properly recorded, then have a box to put that receipt so that they could be counted later if there were “discrepancies,” like FL-2000.
Whoa! Nice catch.
It smells and not like spring flowers.
“This has happened to me once before when I pushed Pepsi and a Mountain Dew came out” complained 72 year old retired brain surgeon, Duffy McPay from Tentflap Memorial Hospital and Auto Center.
So if I were a terrible dishonest person who would set up a voting machine to change someone’s vote, why would I have the voting machine announce it to the voter? This story smells.
Without mythical “victims”, the demorat party wouldn't exist.
I don’t know, but if they are electronic machines, then why don’t they give the option to print a receipt. The machine could create and associate a unique ID that it places on the receipt and stores in the vote registry. The ID wouldn’t be tied to a particular person, so voting would remain anonymous, but they could publish the vote registry after the election, and voters could compare their receipt to what got counted.
Obviously the machines are racist.
My vote has been nullified, and I haven’t even voted yet. It’s not a machine issue, it’s an ACORN issue!
Yeah, racist voting machines. Imagine that!
This is a crock. I fear we will be facing a ton of post-election law suits.
I wonder how many people early voted in Jackson and Putnam counties? I imagine at least a couple thousand. And only 3 claim there was a problem? If you planned to use the mysterious Karl Rove / Diebold election stealing device to steal and election, wouldn't you change more than less than one tenth of one percent of the votes...
Not that any of these issues matter anyway, Obama is NOT going to win West Virgina, with or without the mysterious vote altering device. I personally guarantee it :)
Agitprop. 0bama is intentionally creating a dangerously disruptive environment for the election. If we thought Algore was bad, this will be Algore on steroids, and starting before election day. I will be pleasantly surprised if the voting takes place without actual outbreaks of serious violence.
Of all these types of stories I’ve heard, seems I’ve never hear any complaints about votes flipping from the Repulican candidate to the DUMMIEcrat.
Of all these types of stories I’ve heard, seems I’ve never hear any complaints about votes flipping from the Repulican candidate to the DUMMIEcrat.
I don’t remember which state was being discussed, but it was mentioned that the Diebold machines were disposed of.
It just seems odd to me that in the 2004 campaign the left was all over how the election was going to be stolen by Diebold and come 2008...nothing...not a peep. Makes you think.
I’m not buying it either. Sounds sorta fishy...
Ground work laid for the coming landslide for McCain/Palin maybe.......hummmmm?
Why is that?
The County Clerk admits that the voting machines are making mistakes.
"People make mistakes more than machines," said Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright.
I’m sure they’ll get it right the next time they vote.
It takes practice. Maybe the third time’s the charm or the 4th, 5th, whatever it takes to make sure their vote counts and counts and counts.
/sarc
See #16.
Anybody recall any stories of voting machines switching votes in the 2006 congressional elections?
That’s to cancel out the number of dead dems voting. They are programmed to do that.
These people are idiots. The machines I’ve seen let you review you vote. If you are not happy, you are supposed to do something about it, not say, “OK.”
There muse be a real issue if the Republican County Clerk is saying that there is a problem with the machines.
Granted, 90% are operator error but the machines should not be switching votes.
Ms. Oates called a worker over when she had a problem and it was resolved. The others should have done the same. We use paper ballots where one marks an oval; why doesn’t the rest of the U.S.?
Machines do malfunction; I’m not going to assume all bad votes are because the voter is a cheater. But I have to question why anyone wouldn’t tell a poll worker there’s a problem before completing the process, particularly since it’s probably not that busy during early voting.
The money line.
The ones I've seen do! There's a little window that let's you see it. They also let the voter review their votes onscreen.
So - those who are opposed to the whole concept of ‘Rule By Law’ simple lie and claim that they are victims. McCain wins and the liars all hit the streets in protest wailing to their Euro friends across the pond that the US has descended to the level of banana republic. The UN gets involved. Castro, Chavez and the Iranian psychopath volunteer are among the first to send ‘impartial observers’...who then claim to be shocked by whole sale vote fraud (but the name of the resposible party ‘flips’ on the UN team and becomes ‘Republican’ by the time it hits the papers) and the original liars are vindicated.
Those against McCain who didn’t originally claim to have any problem with the magical vote machine decide to show solidarity by claiming they saw their vote flip - it becomes a chic way to show your support for the Dems. Hearty efforts to ‘cut out the vote’ ....I mean ‘count up the vote’ are launched, hotlines established, a festive ‘grassroots’ latte atmosphere grows, with liars bustling around telling each other “WE ARE ALL IMPORTANT PEOPLE NOW!” and “I PERSONALLY GET TO CHANGE THE WORLD!” as thousands of claims of vote flipping are ‘officially’ tallied around the country. Once names are gathered and counted - the impasse sets in for a long stay while the I-refuse-to-live-in-a-country-ruled-by-laws-and-elections crowd try to halt the functioning of day to day life until their ‘disenfranchised’ voters get to have their vote ‘count’. All this while our economy is struggling to recover, the war is on, oh you know the details......
*Sigh* Can I question their patriotism NOW????
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.