Posted on 11/07/2006 6:18:05 AM PST by Timeout
Edited on 11/07/2006 6:29:22 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Voting machines began wreaking havoc the minute the polls opened Tuesday, delaying voters in dozens of Indiana and Ohio precincts and leaving some in Florida with little choice but turn to paper ballots instead.
In Cleveland, voters rolled their eyes as election workers fumbled with new voting machines that they couldn't get to start properly.
"We got five machines - one of them's got to work," said Willette Scullank, a trouble shooter from the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, elections board.
Election officials in Delaware County, Ind., planned to seek a court order to extend voting after an apparent computer error prevented voters from casting ballots in 75 precincts. Delaware County Clerk Karen Wenger said the cards that activate the machines were programmed incorrectly.
"We are working with precincts one-by-one over the telephone to get the problem fixed," Wenger said.
With a third of Americans voting on new equipment and voters navigating new registration databases and changing ID rules, election watchdogs worried about polling problems even before the voting began Tuesday.
Although turnout generally is lower in midterm elections, this year was the deadline for many of the election changes enacted in the wake of the Florida balloting chaos of 2000.
The 2002 Help America Vote Act required or helped states to replace outdated voting equipment, establish statewide voter registration databases, require better voter identification and provide provisional ballots so qualified voters can have a say if something goes wrong.
"There has not been an election in decades that has had this much change," said Wendy Weiser, an attorney with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's law school.
Control of Congress is also at stake this year, with all 435 House seat and 33 of 100 Senate seats are up for grabs, along with 36 governors' offices. Because individual congressional races are generally decided by fewer votes than presidential contests, any problems at the polls are more likely to affect the outcome.
According to Election Data Services, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm, 32 percent of registered voters were using equipment added since the 2004 elections.
Nearly half of all voters were using optical-scan systems that ask them to fill in blanks, with ballots then fed into a computer. Thirty-eight percent were casting votes on touchscreen machines that have been criticized as susceptible to hackers.
Election experts say both types of voting machines are bound to cause trouble.
Touchscreens may display incorrect ballots or fail to boot properly. Voters using optical-scan equipment might circle a name instead of filling in a box.
Poll workers also might not be adequately trained to handle the unexpected, which can cause delays as voters were already discovering Tuesday.
Voting-machine vendors said they had thousands of workers on the ground and special command centers to handle any problems.
"Elections have hundreds and hundreds of moving parts, and most of those parts have to do with humans," said Michelle Shafer, spokeswoman for Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. "There will be isolated issues throughout the nation I'm sure. That's just the normal part of elections. Overall we feel confident things will go pretty well."
Just getting to the right polling place with all the right identification posed a challenge for some voters.
Excerpt. Continues Forbes
blah blah blah. Sick & tired of Ohio and Florida citizens not being able to figure out how to cast a ballot without whining about something.
I voted in Cuyahoga County at 6:31am and had ZERO problems.
Are they the Sequoia (Venezuela shills) or Diebold machines?
We's been "disenfranchised! We needs ta "re-affirm" oursefs.
Right. .. .especially the ones that had to get to several other polling places to vote again.
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JOHN KERRY =
Pictures of a vietnamese Re-Education Camp
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308949/posts
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Here come the DANGLING CHADS!!!! (on voting machines)
Muncie , Indiana. Lots of Dem loons there.
One of my friends almost bailed because he had to be at work at a certain time. It's a quick way to block GOP voters, largely, because they are trying to vote on the way into work, and have a limited "window" where they have to vote, or bail, because they absolutely must be at work on time.
Count all health care workers in this group.
By and large Rats have all day to vote, and they don't mind waiting while the voting machine gets fixed.
The people who say they can't figure out how to use a voting machine are actually subversives trying to undermine our republic.
Delaware County Clerk Karen Wenger said the cards that activate the machines were programmed incorrectly.“Incorrectly,” eh? I'd have someone analyze the programs on those cards very carefully…
I'm Sick & tired of Ohio and Florida [LIBERAL DEMOCRAT]citizens............
My odds on a national do-over on December 11, 2006 are 3:1. Any takers?
I just voted in Florida. No problems here as far as I could tell. Also, they were very adamant about showing identification. And that is a good thing.
It'd NOT the tool, it's THE CRAFTSMAN!
The new SUVs!
Swallowed the MSM line whole did you? I voted using a machine in FL today and there was no hint of a problem. They also gave you a choice to vote with paper, or the machines, which I did. No apology necessary.
In the non-elitist, backwater hick State of Mississippi (in the eyes of liberal elitists like carry), in my rural county of Stone, we voted for the first time on touch screen Diebold machines (no more punch ballots). No problems reported and Republican turnout is high! People waiting to vote were talking about evil dims and carry's insults!
LLS
Just voted in NC, pouring rain and its packed.
I spoke to one of the poll workers and she said its been non stop all morning.
I used the Vote-amatic and had ZERO problems.
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