Does anyone know how an electronic machine reports total vote casted? Does someone read the numbers like in the old lever machines and then call them in? Is it done automatically via the web or secure phone line?
Is there any security to prevent "stuffing" the machine with last minute ballots?
How can it under-report one day and then the next day report a different number?
When I take money out of an ATM, I can immediately go online and see the money withdrawn from my account. Why can't these machines immediately report a total at the close of polls?
On Tuesday in St. Louis, I had a choice and picked optical scan ballot. At least there is a physical record.
I was the technical election judge at an Illinois polling location. Voters had their choice from two voting options - optical scan paper ballots, or touch screen.
In both cases there was a paper record of the vote. The touch screen machine prints the voter’s selections and the printed out selections can be seen by the voter on a tape visible through a window to the side of the touch screen. A physical verification could be conducted on each of the individual touch screen ballots.
When I take money out of an ATM, I can immediately go online and see the money withdrawn from my account.”
Our bank has a “new fangled system”. No deposit slip, just key in your account number and start feeding checks. Out pops a deposit slip with a pic of each check on it and the amount of the deposit. Really a timesaver for small businesses. Money out shows up on your online account within 2 seconds of withdrawal but money in takes a couple of business days. The point being if ATM’s can do all of this, so can voting machines. This is like the issue of FEDEX can track a small package or envelope while it is going around the world but we can’t find someone whose visa has expired. Government inefficiency versus private business efficiency.
Here in the MO 3rd, Jefferson County areas using exclusively optical scan reported earlier than the last 6 precincts of South St. Louis County which used mostly machines (one can always request an optical scan).
In any case Ed Martin (R) from optical scan regions was way ahead. Then at the last moment, areas that had machines reported last and put Russy Carnahan over the top. Why didn't machine areas report first???
Supposedly this new-fangled paper voting system (which is really a step backwards) was gonna cure all electoral ills. We can thank Algore 2000 for this mess .. if not for his damn 'chads' with hysterical old liberals in Florida, we would still have those wonderful mechanical levers here in New York.
Everyone I've talked to about it agrees ... the newfangled paper ballots suck. Bring back the oldfangled mechanical lever machines.
Algore the Kook can add this little fiasco to the list of his crimes against humanity .....
In the rush of election night, returns from machines or precincts may be double counted or missed entirely due to human error. That is why election night returns are considered unofficial. The more careful and less hectic official count a day or two later often results in revisions to the unofficial election night count.