CA: 7,000 Orange County Voters Were Given Bad Ballots

Yahoo via LA Times ^ | Tue Mar 9, 7:55 AM ET | Ray F. Herndon and Stuart Pfeifer Times Staff Writers

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Poll workers struggling with a new electronic voting system in last week's election gave thousands of Orange County voters the wrong ballots, according to a Times analysis of election records. In 21 precincts where the problem was most acute, there were more ballots cast than registered voters.

Wide margins in most races seem likely to spare the county the need for a costly revote. But the problems, which county officials have blamed on insufficient training for poll workers, are a strong indication of the pitfalls facing officials as they try to bring new election technology online statewide.

"The principal of democracy is every vote should count. That's why we need a better election system," said Henry Brady, a political science professor at UC Berkeley and an expert on voting systems.

At polling places where the problem was most apparent because of turnouts exceeding 100%, an estimated 1,500 voters cast the wrong ballots, according to the Times' analysis of official county election data. Tallies at an additional 55 polling places with turnouts more than double the county average of 37% suggest at least 5,500 voters had their ballots tabulated for the wrong precincts.

Problems occurred in races throughout the county — including five out of six congressional races, four of five state Senate contests, and five of the nine Assembly races that are decided in whole, or in part, by Orange County voters.

Election officials acknowledged that poll workers provided some voters incorrect access codes that caused them to vote in the wrong legislative districts but said there was no evidence yet that any result was in jeopardy.

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Continued at the Yahoo Website!!!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

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[Prime Choice]

CA: 7,000 Orange County Voters Were Given Bad Ballots

The screw-ups must have affected only white people. If it had affected minorities, it'd be all over the evening news and Jesse Jackson would be sharing a bullhorn with Al Sharpton.

It's a funny thing, that. When discarded votes affect anyone but minorities, it's no big deal. But when it affects minorities, it's like Armageddon on rollerskates.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

No paper trail so no one knows exactly !

If it happened here , it likely happened elsewhere!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Right!

[NormsRevenge]

Ouch..

[brewcrew]

Just gearin' up for the big screw job in November....

[Tacis]

And, only a week after Presidente Fox met witj Bush, these California bast**ds are trying to screw these Mexican voters! 7,000 ballots? That means about 2,000 Mexicans have each lost the earnings potential of about $10 a vote. You don't think the dems are going to make that up out of their own pockets do you? And, how about Fox's share. He gets a cut of every dollar sent home! Where's his piece going to come from?

[Carry_Okie]

There should have been a borderline insurrection over these machines. This ain't just a damn ATM.

[Vigilanteman]

At polling places where the problem was most apparent because of turnouts exceeding 100%, an estimated 1,500 voters cast the wrong ballots . . .

Philadelphia had better voting turnouts than they do for free cheese and who can forget the butterfly ballots in Palm Beach?

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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TRAN poised to make history = 1st Viet-Amer/State Legislature

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1090239/posts

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[Dog Gone]

I dunno. I feel pretty good about penciling in the little ovals next to a candidate's name and putting the ballot in the box.

I learned good coloring skills in second grade, and I can do this right.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I meet his sister as she was handing out flyers outside our polling place.

A very cute and articulate petite gal.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

LOL!!

I always had trouble staying within the lines!

[expatpat]

In 21 precincts where the problem was most acute, there were more ballots cast than registered voters.

What's the problem? I thought this was standard in Democratic sections of Philadelphia and Chicaago.

[GOPrincess]

I wonder who the "principal" of democracy is? LOL. (See paragraph 3.)

[kellynla]

No one who votes with a computerized system has any proof of who they voted for or what they voted on. No paper trail. Heck Joe Stalin could have voted for Kerry and nobody would know the dif... LMAO

[onyx]

It's the democrat's 'dream machine.'

[heleny]

No one who votes with a computerized system has any proof of who they voted for or what they voted on. No paper trail.

No one who votes with punchcards has any proof of who they voted for or what they voted on.
All I had was the "I voted. Have you?" stub off my punchcards.

The purpose of a paper trail isn't to have you keep a record of your vote, but to have a paper record for the county to hand-count the ballots in a close election.

[heleny]

At polling places where the problem was most apparent because of turnouts exceeding 100%, an estimated 1,500 voters cast the wrong ballots, according to the Times' analysis of official county election data. Tallies at an additional 55 polling places with turnouts more than double the county average of 37% suggest at least 5,500 voters had their ballots tabulated for the wrong precincts.

San Diego county had problems all over the county. They switched to the Diebold system and did not have paper ballot backups at the precincts, many of which had trouble starting in the morning.

Many voters were turned away and told to go to other polling places, which sometimes were in different districts with different candidates or ballot measures.

[Amelia]

They switched to the Diebold system and did not have paper ballot backups at the precincts, many of which had trouble starting in the morning.

We've used the Diebold system for the last couple of elections, and the biggest problem I've noticed is that a lot of the elderly poll workers aren't familiar with computers and are intimidated by them.

I kind of liked the old voting machines with the curtains and the levers myself.