Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Glitches cited in early voting

After a week of early voting, a handful of glitches with electronic voting machines have drawn the ire of voters, reassurances from elections supervisors -- and a caution against the careless casting of ballots.

Several South Florida voters say the choices they touched on the electronic screens were not the ones that appeared on the review screen -- the final voting step.

Election officials say they aren't aware of any serious voting issues. But in Broward County, for example, they don't know how widespread the machine problems are because there's no process for poll workers to quickly report minor issues and no central database of machine problems.

In Miami-Dade, incidents are logged and reported daily and recorded in a central database. Problem machines are shut down.

''In the past, Miami-Dade County would send someone to correct the machine on site,'' said Lester Sola, county supervisor of elections. Now, he said, ``We close the machine down and put a seal on it.''

Debra A. Reed voted with her boss on Wednesday at African-American Research Library and Cultural Center near Fort Lauderdale. Her vote went smoothly, but boss Gary Rudolf called her over to look at what was happening on his machine. He touched the screen for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, a Democrat, but the review screen repeatedly registered the Republican, Charlie Crist.

That's exactly the kind of problem that sends conspiracy theorists into high gear -- especially in South Florida, where a history of problems at the polls have made voters particularly skittish.

A poll worker then helped Rudolf, but it took three tries to get it right, Reed said.

''I'm shocked because I really want . . . to trust that the issues with irregularities with voting machines have been resolved,'' said Reed, a paralegal. ``It worries me because the races are so close.''

Broward Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman Mary Cooney said it's not uncommon for screens on heavily used machines to slip out of sync, making votes register incorrectly. Poll workers are trained to recalibrate them on the spot -- essentially, to realign the video screen with the electronics inside. The 15-step process is outlined in the poll-workers manual.

''It is resolved right there at the early-voting site,'' Cooney said.

Broward poll workers keep a log of all maintenance done on machines at each site. But the Supervisor of Elections office doesn't see that log until the early voting period ends. And a machine isn't taken out of service unless the poll clerk decides it's a chronic poor performer that can't be fixed.

Cooney said no machines have been removed during early voting, and she is not aware of any serious problems.

In Miami-Dade, two machines have been taken out of service during early voting. No votes were lost, Sola said.

Joan Marek, 60, a Democrat from Hollywood, was also stunned to see Charlie Crist on her ballot review page after voting on Thursday. ''Am I on the voting screen again?'' she wondered. ``Well, this is too weird.''

Marek corrected her ballot and alerted poll workers at the Hollywood satellite courthouse, who she said told her they'd had previous problems with the same machine.

Poll workers did some work on her machine when she finished voting, Marek said. But no report was made to the Supervisor of Elections office and the machine was not removed, Cooney said.

Workers at the Hollywood poll said there had been no voting problems on Friday.

Mauricio Raponi wanted to vote for Democrats across the board at the Lemon City Library in Miami on Thursday. But each time he hit the button next to the candidate, the Republican choice showed up. Raponi, 53, persevered until the machine worked. Then he alerted a poll worker.

Miami Herald

I told you those things were rigged, I mean what else would you expect with a machine built by dibold and programmed by Chavez.

5 Comments:

Blogger Jon said...

It just so happens that I'm going to be monitoring some of these machines for a district here in this election.

"Several South Florida voters say the choices they touched on the electronic screens were not the ones that appeared on the review screen -- the final voting step."

First, bullshit. The review screen did show who they selected on the voting page. They just moved on before the correct candidate was selected. Second, when reviewing your votes, if you see that your choices are not accurately reflected in the review, click on the race you want to correct and it will take you back to that choice so you can correct your vote. If there really is some glitch, doubtful, but you never know, call a pollworker over and show them and they can put you on a different machine.

Remember, what you see registered on the screen is your vote, so if the touchscreen is out of alignment, you can adjust where you touch on the screen to select the correct candidate. Or, just call a poll worker and move to a different machine.

"In Miami-Dade, incidents are logged and reported daily and recorded in a central database. Problem machines are shut down.

''In the past, Miami-Dade County would send someone to correct the machine on site,'' said Lester Sola, county supervisor of elections. Now, he said, ``We close the machine down and put a seal on it.''"


This is exactly what would happen. That machine would be pulled out and replaced... but the votes on it will not be lost. It'll be sealed for an official to extract the data off of it, so nothing will be lost.

"boss Gary Rudolf called her over to look at what was happening on his machine. He touched the screen for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, a Democrat, but the review screen repeatedly registered the Republican, Charlie Crist...

A poll worker then helped Rudolf, but it took three tries to get it right, Reed said."


The touchscreen wasn't aligned, but you can adjust where you touch the screen and it will still work. These are pretty fool-proof devices. Still, the right fool can screw anything up. At the end of voting, make sure to review your votes. It's easy to change and, if there are problems, your issue will be addressed.

"Broward Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman Mary Cooney said it's not uncommon for screens on heavily used machines to slip out of sync, making votes register incorrectly."

By "out of sync" she means the touchscreen is out of alignment, but you can still see what candidate was selected. The votes will not register incorrectly as long as your screen shows the candidate you want at the end of the process.

"Joan Marek, 60, a Democrat from Hollywood, was also stunned to see Charlie Crist on her ballot review page after voting on Thursday. ''Am I on the voting screen again?'"

If she'd have practiced voting on one of the practice machines, she'd know what was going on. If you're blind, the machine will walk a blind person through voting with no problems.

Most of the people who will have problems with this system are likely going to be over 60 years old and they also have troubles getting Mr. Coffee to spit out a cup of java in the morning.

"But each time he hit the button next to the candidate, the Republican choice showed up. Raponi, 53, persevered until the machine worked. Then he alerted a poll worker"

Call a poll worker as soon as you think there is a problem. Most problems are probably related to people's fingers being too fat or they need to update their eyeglass prescription. All the voting machines will be checked for acuracy prior to the election.

"I told you those things were rigged, I mean what else would you expect with a machine built by dibold and programmed by Chavez."

You're kidding, right? I doubt Chavez is rigging machines to mistakenly vote Republican. ;-)

1:23 AM  
Blogger madtom said...

"You're kidding, right? I doubt Chavez is rigging machines to mistakenly vote Republican. ;-) "

Of course he would. That comment is sarcasm, but he would surly rig he vote towards Bush if he could. With out him there is not reason for Chavez to exist. And you do know that Chavez controls oil companies don't you, he operates refineries and other petrol chemical businesses here in the US. Now you tell me what party protects the profits of petrol chemical corporations?
Any guesses

The Bush administration also has a nice slave labor racquet running out of Cuba today. You do know that during the Bush administration Cuban went from being at the very end of the list of US trading partners, to number 25. Cuba today's is the US 25 best customer. Now you tell me just how that can be. It's really easy. Cuba imports products with special humanitarian license doled out by the treasury. They repackaged and distributes the merchandise throughout south americam using cuban slave labor, thus undercutting everyone else's overhead cost for the very same quality US products. Sales go up here, and republicans put on blinders just like DeLay did in the pacific US territories and the Chinese sweat shops.

1:43 AM  
Blogger Jon said...

"Now you tell me what party protects the profits of petrol chemical corporations?"

They both do.

"They repackaged and distributes the merchandise throughout south americam using cuban slave labor"

So, you're telling me that Cuba purchases goods intended for humanitarian relief and then turns around and sells those goods for a profit?

There is nobody in the US controlling Cuban or Chinese labor laws my friend.

2:21 AM  
Blogger madtom said...

Yea it's true but which one do you think would try harder to enforce environmental rules, Which party would make it easier to site new projects and or make repairs to existing equipment with out updating the facilities to meat new guidelines? Which party want to lower their taxes, and which one thinks the government should pay the cost of environment cleanups saving the corporations billions? The answer is clear

Exactly, it's actually written into the law, the "helms, Burton act" all payment from sales to Cuba must come from a third party. Cuba has to sell the stuff to a third party so they can make the payments. Everyone makes a profit and US companies are gaining access to new markets in central and south america, where traditionally US produces are priced out of the reach of the people living there. But with Cuba's low overhead they can put US produces on the shelves at prices that compete with local producers. The merchandise is shipped to Cuba in bulk, they repackaged and shipped to the store shelves using slave labor. Cuban workers earn $3.00 to $5.00 a month. The doctors that distribute the medical equipment earn a whopping $20.00 to $30.00 a month. Now you tell me if you going to have a doctor oversee the sale, distribution, and training on new medical equipment, which would you rather pay, castro, or someone that charges $100,000.00 a year.

The labor laws I'm referring to are on US territories in the pacific where the Chinese run sweet shops. I forget the exact island, but the republicans removed the US labor laws in the name of economic development, its on of the scandals that brought down DeLay, the lobbing firm was Abramoff. What they did was to grant that island special rules, the Chinese companies would recruit Chinese workers with promises of jobs in the US, but once the workers arrived they found out that they were more or less slave labor there, with no one to turn too. The companies played in bounced checks, to worker that lived in company compounds, working 14 hours a day...

2:49 AM  
Blogger Jon said...

You know the expression, "Money talks. Bullshit walks." When the Democrats cease accepting corporate donations, I will trust them not to lean in favor of corporations.

The Helms-Burton act penalizes any party dealing in property that was expropriated during the Cuban revolution. I'm not sure how that comes into play in this scenario.

It looks like both Clinton and Bush have signed waivers to Helms-Burton.

The Marianas are a commonwealth of the US, but they are self-governing. I'm not sure that US federal labor laws apply there.

Do you have a line on any articles that better explain the situation you are talking about?

Here is an article I found on the Chinese sweatshop situation.

4:37 AM  

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