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Election fixes stir worries on ballot security Some fearful computer codes are vulnerable Johnnie German admitted he was nervous as he used high-security codes to tap into the Harris County elections computer system last week and change some of the results manually. The system was in good hands as the votes were counted from the sprawling Nov. 6 contests. German is the county's respected administrator of elections, and there were witnesses present as he corrected the vote totals on a sales tax referendum for a fire/ambulance district in the Cypress-Fairbanks area of northwest Harris County. But German's late-night deed, said...

Write-in candidate names are not on the ballot by design. To cast a vote for one on the electronic eSlate machines, which don't have a keyboard, you'll have to use the "select" dial to choose "write-in." Even then, the names won't automatically pop up, said Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office. In each booth there will be a printed list of candidates who have been certified for the Congressional District 22 race. Using the dial and a picture of a keyboard on the screen, the voter will click the letters of the name they want. Potential...

Travis County election officials have responded to complaints that voters casting straight-party Democratic ballots are discovering, when performing a final check of their ballots, that their votes for president have been changed from Kerry/Edwards to Bush/Cheney. The officials say that, after trying and failing to replicate the problem on its eSlate voting machines, they have concluded the vote changes are due to voter error rather than mechanical failure. Gail Fisher, manager of the county's Elections Division, theorizes that after selecting their straight party vote, some voters are going to the next page on the electronic ballot and pressing "enter," perhaps...

Some Houston voters had trouble casting their votes in the city's mayoral race and light rail referendum this morning. Those who showed up early at the Holiday Inn at 7787 Katy Freeway to vote  found that the eSlate machines that were supposed to make voting so much easier and more accurate were on the fritz. While technicians made repairs, election judges passed out sheets of paper torn in half, along with sample ballots, and telling voters to write in their votes. David Puckett said he sat down on the floor and spent 25 minutes scribbling down his choices while other voters just took the time to write in their votes...

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/page1/1644248 Nov. 2, 2002, 1:32AM Long lines put eSlate to test as numbers best 1998 figures By STEVE BREWER Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle RESOURCE • Election Central: Candidate profiles, voting information, issues and much more about the Nov. 5 general election. Harris County voters used $25 million in new electronic voting gear to cast early ballots in record numbers in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's election. County Clerk Beverly Kaufman's office announced late Friday that 151,575 voters cast early ballots for the election -- 66,516 more than the 85,059 that voted early during the last midterm election in 1998....

Harris County Residents! I attended the 4 hour eSlate training Monday night, (made an easy 25.00) and will be an alternate judge Nov 5th. I have something of very great importance to share with all of you and it requires 12 hours of 2002! The eSlate training was well attended Monday night BUT sad to say...many folks walked out after 4 hours of training "did NOT get it"! The test presented to confirm competancy was not controlled and we have people who will be at the polling place who can NOT provide the services needed on Nov. 5th. The people...