Posted on 09/15/2002 3:44:26 AM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
By Associated Press
September 15, 2002, 5:32 AM EDT
MIAMI --
Election workers in Janet Reno's stronghold of Broward County have found uncounted votes from last week's primary, though officials didn't say how many.
The votes were found Saturday in a precinct that first reported no votes, said Willie Weslie, project manager with Election Systems & Software Inc., which made the touchscreen voting machines used in the county.
That precinct, with 832 registered voters, was among 247 that Reno has asked officials to review in her battle with Bill McBride for the Democratic nomination.
"I don't know what happened in every case. I just know 1/8poll workers 3/8 had procedures and didn't follow them," said Weslie.
Weslie said poll workers in the precinct should have inserted a cartridge in the machines, which would have collected the votes when polls closed. But they did not, he said, so the empty cartridge made it appear that no votes were cast.
Workers examined touchscreen voting machines until shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday, and were expected to continue Sunday. The deadline for counties to report official vote tallies to the state is 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Election Supervisor Miriam Oliphant's office would not discuss the uncounted votes.
"Once the process is complete, the supervisor of elections will have a statement with respect to that and every other issue her office feels is necessary to assure the voters of Broward County that every vote will be counted," said spokesman Rick Riley.
Reno trailed McBride by 8,196 votes in unofficial counts from the state. The 247 precincts she asked to be reviewed have 15,841 voters.
Reno has also asked Miami-Dade County officials to check for lost votes. Officials there found more than 1,800 uncounted votes from four precincts Thursday, and were reviewing touchscreen voting machines to determine if more were unreported.
Miami and Broward counties used the same touchscreen machines made by Election Systems & Software.
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
"Hold muh beer while I snap a pitcher with muh lens cover on"
Such a trial would help ensure that votes never "go missing" again.
$17.3 million for new voting machines.
An annual budget of $5.3 million.
A permanant staff of 62.
Responsible for 2 elections bi-annually.
A Supervisors salary of $127,000 pa.
Three ways of recording each vote.
1. The transferable cartridge.
2. A paper print out.
3. An internal hard disk.
They have tried it all,losing cartridges, tearing serial no's off the machines, hiding the machines among the tallied devices,running the cartridges thru multiple times and all these are being caught. Expect a warehouse fire in November.
In other words, the incompetent democratic voters of south Florida have elected equally incompetent officials to "supervise" their elections. Jeb is off the hook on this, because he has neither the authority nor the responsibility for the election process.
I'm glad they're getting caught....they are now in the national eye. Since Chad Gore, it's no longer "local" secrets. And, yes, I am definitely expecting something come November. I only pray that those who are watching (hopefully, some who have nothing but credibility on their foreheads), print it.
I don't think they realize how they are the butt of jokes throughout the Union, because they are perceived as this stupid--again.
They also think we have short memories....but Chad Gore shall live in infamy, as does their scheming ...... they are more than "stupid," they are fools.
Democrats can't find a dumpster fast enough for them.
Sunrise, Florida - To Miriam Oliphant, the keys to life and elections are the same: preparation and organization.
These days the Broward County election supervisor is all about details - 60 classes a week for county poll workers, an inventory of iVotronic voting machines stacked in a warehouse, even blue aprons for precinct clerks that will hold the all-important computer-card keys needed to operate the machines.
"I am going to do everything I possibly can to correct a system that has been broken," Oliphant said. "We know change is long overdue in Broward County."
Across the nation, election officials are entering crunch time in their first major test since the confusion of Election Day 2000. They are pumping up voter education, improving training for poll workers, and placing a premium on details that might have been overlooked in the past.
Twenty-four states hold primaries in August and September. Among them, Florida and 10 others conduct their primaries Sept. 10.
Florida, infamous for hanging chads on punch-card ballots, was the focal point of the protracted 2000 presidential battle that ended with George W. Bush beating Al Gore by just 537 votes in the state.
Florida lawmakers approved a series of reforms last year, including outlawing punch-card ballots and authorizing $32 million for new equipment and voter education.
Among Florida counties, Broward's efforts at improvements are drawing attention because the county has nearly one million registered voters, the most in the state, and features a diverse population of elderly, suburban dwellers and Spanish- and Creole-speaking voters.
Since taking over 18 months ago, Oliphant has initiated a flurry of innovations.
To introduce voters to the new ATM-style, touch-screen voting machines, Oliphant has held demonstrations at supermarkets and community centers. She is borrowing 144 phone lines from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale to handle calls from confused workers and voters on Election Day.
And to recruit 6,000 poll workers, Oliphant has tapped corporations and county employees with backgrounds in customer service and technology. Public employees who volunteer as poll workers will receive a paid day off plus $100 for working the 14-hour day.
"We truly cannot think of a more responsible, patriotic thing to do than to be involved in the election process on the eve of 9/11," said Bob Cantrell, who runs the county's poll worker operation.
At a four-hour training class for poll workers in Sunrise, Leroy Mattear and nine others got hands-on training on the new machines and voting procedures.
Two years ago, his training session held about 500 poll workers, many of whom chatted casually or left the hall at their leisure, Mattear said. "Now it's like school," he said.
Elsewhere in Florida, Hillsborough County elections chief Pam Iorio has held nearly 400 road shows to display the new technology, but she says many supervisors are still worried.
"There's a concern among supervisors that any little bump along the way will be exaggerated because it's Florida," Iorio said
It's evident Miriam Oliphant isn't just another pretty face. She's a Democrat!
"This is the enter button. It is spelled, E,N,T,E,R. You take your finger, yes, that's a finger, and push on the Enter Button. No, not your nose. No, your nose is not linked with the computer system. No, don't eat that... This is a cartridge. Yes. This thingie in my hand. I said... cart-ridge. No, I said, CART-RIDGE. Yes. You need to... no. Don't put the cartridge in your mouth...
All I can say is, don't trust these guys with play-dough.
Good post, thanx.
Florida politics have been corrupt since forever, it just went unnoticed and unreported as long as there was a democrat governor running the corruption. Remember Lawton Chiles? Here's a Pat Caddell quote to back me up:
"“I’m a liberal Democrat. I started in Florida politics. I worked for George McGovern. I worked for Jimmy Carter. I’ve worked for Ted Kennedy, Mario Cuomo. Nobody can question, I think, my credentials and my convictions. But I have to tell you, at this point, it’s hard to believe, but my party, the party that [my family has] belonged to since my great-great-grandfather … has become no longer a party of principles, but has been hijacked by a confederacy of gangsters who need to take power by whatever means and whatever canards they can.” " These words were spoken by Patrick Caddell on Chris Matthews’ Hardball, on November 27, 2000.
"http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=1067
I remember this November 2000 show. Caddell went on and on describing long standing south Florida corruption,
Don't ever underestimate the enemy.
Marxist DemocRATS are criminal mentality snakes. You have to try to think like a snake and anticipate their next ten moves or you'll get bit.
The "stupid party" usually doesn't do that and when they get blindsided they always wondered what happened.
One of the things I like about Dubya is that he is a guuuuuuuud snake handler. When you're a good snake handler --- it's the snakes that get blindsided. LOL
I disagree. If they are not smart enough to operate these simple devices, they likely are not capable of understanding what they are voting about.
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