New Laws and Machines May Spell Voting Woes

The New York Times ^ | October 19, 2006 | IAN URBINA

[Livin_large]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 — New electronic voting machines have arrived in Yolo County, Calif., but there is one hitch: the audio program for the visually impaired in some of them works only in Vietnamese.

“Talk about panic,” said Freddy Oakley, the county’s top election official. “I’ve got gray-haired ladies as poll workers standing around looking stunned.”

As dozens of states are enforcing new voter registration laws and switching to paperless electronic voting systems, officials across the country are bracing for an Election Day with long lines and heightened confusion, followed by an increase in the number of contested results.

In Maryland, Mississippi and Pennsylvania, a shortage of technicians has vendors for new machines soliciting applications for technical support workers on job Web sites like Monster.com. Ms. Oakley, who is also facing a shortage, raided the computer science department at the University of California, Davis, hiring 60 graduate students as troubleshooters.

Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania are among the states considered most likely to experience difficulties, according to voting experts who have been tracking the technology and other election changes.

“We’ve got new laws, new technology, heightened partisanship and a growing involvement of lawyers in the voting process,” said Tova Wang, who studies elections for the Century Foundation, a nonpartisan research group. “We also have the greatest potential for problems in more places next month than in any voting season before.”

Election officials in many of the states are struggling with delays in the delivery of machines before the election as old-fashioned lever and punch-card machines are phased out. A chronic shortage of poll workers, many of them retirees uncomfortable with new technology, has worsened matters.

[Livin_large]

I think the left is already looking for excuses as to why the end results don't match the early polling.

[sure_fine]

thought this was America, not vietnam



if you can't produce proof of residence and a photo ID and speak english, stay the hell out of voting booths

[hotshu]

Political correctness will bring the death of this Republic if it is allowed to continue. The destruction of the electoral system envisioned by the Founders is nearly complete. The final nail in the coffin will be the unconstitutional avoidance of the Electoral College in the 2008 election.

So sickening!

[Niteranger68]

Vote absentee!

[sure_fine]

"Political correctness will bring the death of this Republic if it is allowed to continue"




I am very cencerned its already a done deal

[6SJ7]

I think the left is already looking for excuses as to why the end results don't match the early polling.

Nov 8, the MSM whine will be "We was robbed!"

[PghBaldy]

All this cause some stupid Democrats in FL said they voted for Buchanan by mistake. We never should have done this stuff. Leave each local or state election up to that locale.

[jmaroneps37]

Cranking up the excuse machine.

[johniegrad]

The Slimes is already starting to get the message out that there will computerized voter fraud by the Republicans and that women, minorities, and all Democrat voters will be disenfrancised in all the key races.

[Livin_large]

I'll bet Rove and Diebold have programmed the touch screen machines to capture fingerprints along with the recorded vote and add it all to a National Republican Database. This data will be used during the next election cycle so that any "uneducated" voter can be stopped prior to getting to the polls. This will result in shorter lines for the rest of us. </sarcasm>

[MichiganConservative]

I think the left is already looking for excuses as to why the end results don't match the early polling.

It's easier for the worthless media to blame the boogeyman than admit that their polling was flawed/skewed on purpose to suit their political agenda.

[Kewlhand`tek]

I'll bet Rove and Diebold have programmed the touch screen machines to capture fingerprints along with the recorded vote and add it all to a National Republican Database. This data will be used during the next election cycle so that any "uneducated" voter can be stopped prior to getting to the polls. This will result in shorter lines for the rest of us. wow, you got moonbat senses lol ok, from the article, it says one machine has vietnamese for dialog. ok one of the requirements to citizenship is a working knowledge of english really need to stop this multi-lingual crap in voting.