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Glitches cited in early voting Early voters are urged to cast their ballots with care following scattered reports of problems with heavily used machines. BY CHARLES RABIN AND DARRAN SIMON 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 staff writer Linda Topping Streitfeld contributed to this report.
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Glitches cited in early voting > Early voters are urged to cast their ballots with care following > scattered reports of problems with heavily used machines. > BY CHARLES RABIN AND DARRAN SIMON > 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 staff writer Linda Topping Streitfeld contributed to this > report.
Yesserriee, that’s the only way the cryto-nazis can win elections – BY CHEATING THEIR WAY IN! Notice how none of the "glitches" cause a switch from a republican candidate to a democratic candidate? It’s as if they always default to a stinkin’ repug. Frickin’ corrupt crooks.
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same thing is happening in Texas http://www.kfdm.com/engine.pl?station=kfdm&id=17343&template=breakout…
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Why are there no reports of Republican votes being changed to Democratic? Or are there? As far as I know, it is not illegal to take a camera into the voting booth with you. Time stamp, and in sequence, take a pic of your vote, take a pic of the preview screen, and VOILA! These changes are showing up on the preview screens, that’s how they are being caught.
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> Why are there no reports of Republican votes being changed to > Democratic? Or are there?
<insert quip about liberal media here>
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> > Why are there no reports of Republican votes being changed to > Democratic? Or are there? > <insert quip about liberal media here>
there are some very strange political ads in our local paper of late. It seems our local candidates are trying to position themselves as being more Christian than thou and less corrupt than thou and not a one mentions which political party they belong to. There was even one ad that supported no one but merely said Jesus didn’t belong to a political party. Let me tell you, for here – that’s a turning of the lake. There is no place more conservative than here. I think the camera idea is a good one, not only for the machines but to record the election judges. Last election an Iraq 1 war veteran got in a heap of trouble because he used his cell phone in the voting room to call him mom to remind her to vote. A fight ensued because the judged pushed him and this poor guy is waiting for trial. If someone had been video taping there would be no trial. His main problem was that he was hispanic, wearing a Che muscle shirt (which showed his marine tatoos). The 70 year old white judge didn’t like the looks of him. Anyway if any of you, even you righties, are really concerned about election integrity, go sign up to become an election judge in your precinct. Secure the vote in your own backyard. God knows that we need more people to do this, because the elderly election judges are resigning in droves because they are intimidated by electronic voting. We need ethical people to take their place. Please become one of them. or sign up to video the vote http://www.videothevote.org/home.htm don’t just complain about "the system" being broken.
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>Anyway if any of you, even you righties, are really concerned about >election integrity, go sign up to become an election judge in your >precinct. Secure the vote in your own backyard. God knows that we >need more people to do this, because the elderly election judges are >resigning in droves because they are intimidated by electronic voting. >We need ethical people to take their place. Please become one of them.
I do that on and off here, and it is a GREAT idea. Good post… >don’t just complain about "the system" being broken.
..folks best take that advice in ‘08 and run some good people, cause Bush ain’t running, and folks like me want SANE changes. JJTj …It is history in the making… ……and it’s in the Key of ‘ A ‘.. …what more could any civilized man want…
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http://www.ebaumsworld.com/floridavoting.html
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > Why are there no reports of Republican votes being changed to > > Democratic? Or are there? > <insert quip about liberal media here> > there are some very strange political ads in our local paper of late. > It seems our local candidates are trying to position themselves as > being more Christian than thou and less corrupt than thou and not a one > mentions which political party they belong to. There was even one ad > that supported no one but merely said Jesus didn’t belong to a > political party. Let me tell you, for here – that’s a turning of the > lake. There is no place more conservative than here. > I think the camera idea is a good one, not only for the machines but to > record the election judges. Last election an Iraq 1 war veteran got in > a heap of trouble because he used his cell phone in the voting room to > call him mom to remind her to vote. A fight ensued because the judged > pushed him and this poor guy is waiting for trial. If someone had been > video taping there would be no trial. His main problem was that he was > hispanic, wearing a Che muscle shirt (which showed his marine tatoos). > The 70 year old white judge didn’t like the looks of him. > Anyway if any of you, even you righties, are really concerned about > election integrity, go sign up to become an election judge in your > precinct. Secure the vote in your own backyard. God knows that we > need more people to do this, because the elderly election judges are > resigning in droves because they are intimidated by electronic voting. > We need ethical people to take their place. Please become one of them. > or sign up to video the vote > http://www.videothevote.org/home.htm > don’t just complain about "the system" being broken.
I work as an IT professional (originally as a mainframe programmer and now as a web designer) and I just don’t understand how something as important as a voting machine can be so f’ed up. I mean, convenience stores have electronic cash registered with touch sensitive screens that work better than these voting machines. What these voting machines basically are is fancy adding machines with a counter for each selection. Programming a counter is one of the most basic pieces of logic in programming outside of IF/ELSE statements. Who is building and programming these things? If I turned in a project as screwed up as these machines that are built for such a critical task, my ass would be fired.
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > > Why are there no reports of Republican votes being changed to > > > Democratic? Or are there? > > <insert quip about liberal media here> > there are some very strange political ads in our local paper of late. > It seems our local candidates are trying to position themselves as > being more Christian than thou and less corrupt than thou and not a one > mentions which political party they belong to. There was even one ad > that supported no one but merely said Jesus didn’t belong to a > political party. Let me tell you, for here – that’s a turning of the > lake. There is no place more conservative than here. > I think the camera idea is a good one, not only for the machines but to > record the election judges. Last election an Iraq 1 war veteran got in > a heap of trouble because he used his cell phone in the voting room to > call him mom to remind her to vote. A fight ensued because the judged > pushed him and this poor guy is waiting for trial. If someone had been > video taping there would be no trial. His main problem was that he was > hispanic, wearing a Che muscle shirt (which showed his marine tatoos). > The 70 year old white judge didn’t like the looks of him. > Anyway if any of you, even you righties, are really concerned about > election integrity, go sign up to become an election judge in your > precinct. Secure the vote in your own backyard. God knows that we > need more people to do this, because the elderly election judges are > resigning in droves because they are intimidated by electronic voting. > We need ethical people to take their place. Please become one of them. > or sign up to video the vote > http://www.videothevote.org/home.htm > don’t just complain about "the system" being broken. > I work as an IT professional (originally as a mainframe programmer and > now as a web designer) and I just don’t understand how something as > important as a voting machine can be so f’ed up. I mean, convenience > stores have electronic cash registered with touch sensitive screens > that work better than these voting machines. > What these voting machines basically are is fancy adding machines with > a counter for each selection. Programming a counter is one of the most > basic pieces of logic in programming outside of IF/ELSE statements. > Who is building and programming these things? If I turned in a project > as screwed up as these machines that are built for such a critical > task, my ass would be fired.
But the voting machines are rigged for a reason and there has yet to be a report that ANY glitch caused a democratic candidate to receive more votes than they were supposed to get. It’s always the republican candidate that benefits from the machine "errors". But I have what I think is the perfect simple solution: 1 The presidential election day should be a national holiday and there should be a country-wide uniform voting standard as well as for the mid term elections of Congress. 2 No matter what time zone, all voting should start and end simultaneously. This is so the media can’t prematurely predict the election which does affect the outcome since some folks will not bother to vote if they think their candidate is either way ahead or losing badly. 3 A simple paper receipt that the voter can inspect and verify if their votes were recorded correctly then inserted into a box in case of a needed recount due to any malfunctioning voting machines or alleged improprieties. 4 Of course have nonpartisan inspectors or representives of both political parties present during the voting process and the counting process to verify the validity of totals.
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>But the voting machines are rigged for a reason and there has yet >to be a report that ANY glitch caused a democratic candidate >to receive more votes than they were supposed to get. It’s always >the republican candidate that benefits from the machine "errors".
Oh come on, what proof do you have that ONLY rep’s do this. or, in fact, it is done on the scale of past..or at all. >But I have what I think is the perfect simple solution: >1 The presidential election day should be a national holiday >and there should be a country-wide uniform voting standard >as well as for the mid term elections of Congress.
GREAT IDEA. Maybe more people would vote. Make it a PAID holiday. >2 No matter what time zone, all voting should start and end >simultaneously. This is so the media can’t prematurely >predict the election which does affect the outcome since >some folks will not bother to vote if they think their candidate >is either way ahead or losing badly.
That might be a little harder, how about no media results till all the polls close? Fair to all. Make up ya OWN minds. >3 A simple paper receipt that the voter can inspect and >verify if their votes were recorded correctly then inserted into >a box in case of a needed recount due to any malfunctioning >voting machines or alleged improprieties.
yep. Or at the very least, a paper receipt each voter gets.? >4 Of course have nonpartisan inspectors or representives of >both political parties present during the voting process and >the counting process to verify the validity of totals.
Yes, nopartisan being the key word.. JJTj
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->>> Why are there no reports of Republican votes being changed to >>> Democratic? Or are there? >> <insert quip about liberal media here> > there are some very strange political ads in our local paper of late. > It seems our local candidates are trying to position themselves as > being more Christian than thou and less corrupt than thou and not a one > mentions which political party they belong to. There was even one ad > that supported no one but merely said Jesus didn’t belong to a > political party. Let me tell you, for here – that’s a turning of the > lake. There is no place more conservative than here. > I think the camera idea is a good one, not only for the machines but to > record the election judges. Last election an Iraq 1 war veteran got in > a heap of trouble because he used his cell phone in the voting room to > call him mom to remind her to vote. A fight ensued because the judged > pushed him and this poor guy is waiting for trial. If someone had been > video taping there would be no trial. His main problem was that he was > hispanic, wearing a Che muscle shirt (which showed his marine tatoos). > The 70 year old white judge didn’t like the looks of him. > Anyway if any of you, even you righties, are really concerned about > election integrity, go sign up to become an election judge in your > precinct. Secure the vote in your own backyard. God knows that we > need more people to do this, because the elderly election judges are > resigning in droves because they are intimidated by electronic voting. > We need ethical people to take their place. Please become one of them. > or sign up to video the vote > http://www.videothevote.org/home.htm > don’t just complain about "the system" being broken. > I work as an IT professional (originally as a mainframe programmer and > now as a web designer) and I just don’t understand how something as > important as a voting machine can be so f’ed up. I mean, convenience > stores have electronic cash registered with touch sensitive screens > that work better than these voting machines. > What these voting machines basically are is fancy adding machines with > a counter for each selection. Programming a counter is one of the most > basic pieces of logic in programming outside of IF/ELSE statements. > Who is building and programming these things? If I turned in a project > as screwed up as these machines that are built for such a critical > task, my ass would be fired.
Money is important, people are not. At a certain age you come to realize that all else is hypocrisy to keep the mass of people silent, fat, drinking, smoking, and watching sitcoms. Shhhhh- 
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> I work as an IT professional (originally as a mainframe programmer and > now as a web designer) and I just don’t understand how something as > important as a voting machine can be so f’ed up. I mean, convenience > stores have electronic cash registered with touch sensitive screens > that work better than these voting machines.
I’ve worked, primarily on hard real-time safety mitigated systems, for over 25 years. If we screw up, people are injured or die; hardware is damaged or destroyed. That said, my colleges and I now work full time trying to mitigate the damage done by offshoring to China and India. Based on the engineering nonsense we wade through every day, I’m convinced that these countries are running engineering diploma mills (and that the absolute bottom of the class are working on the shit we attempt to mitigate). This nonsense is coming to products you depend on *soon*. If the engineering of the voting machines was offshored, I’m amazed if they do anything thing more than appear to work… > What these voting machines basically are is fancy adding machines with > a counter for each selection. Programming a counter is one of the most > basic pieces of logic in programming outside of IF/ELSE statements. > Who is building and programming these things? If I turned in a project > as screwed up as these machines that are built for such a critical > task, my ass would be fired.
Each and every day, we deal with cabbage that is completely unworthy of the title "Engineer"; but we can’t cut this cancer from the dying body. If we could, we would. Offshoring is the solution favored by incompetent (and abjectly unaccountable) management… Again, this is coming to critical products you depend on. You will not be happy when you are forced to realize it has arrived…
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > > Why are there no reports of Republican votes being changed to > > > Democratic? Or are there? > > <insert quip about liberal media here> > there are some very strange political ads in our local paper of late. > It seems our local candidates are trying to position themselves as > being more Christian than thou and less corrupt than thou and not a one > mentions which political party they belong to. There was even one ad > that supported no one but merely said Jesus didn’t belong to a > political party. Let me tell you, for here – that’s a turning of the > lake. There is no place more conservative than here. > I think the camera idea is a good one, not only for the machines but to > record the election judges. Last election an Iraq 1 war veteran got in > a heap of trouble because he used his cell phone in the voting room to > call him mom to remind her to vote. A fight ensued because the judged > pushed him and this poor guy is waiting for trial. If someone had been > video taping there would be no trial. His main problem was that he was > hispanic, wearing a Che muscle shirt (which showed his marine tatoos). > The 70 year old white judge didn’t like the looks of him. > Anyway if any of you, even you righties, are really concerned about > election integrity, go sign up to become an election judge in your > precinct. Secure the vote in your own backyard. God knows that we > need more people to do this, because the elderly election judges are > resigning in droves because they are intimidated by electronic voting. > We need ethical people to take their place. Please become one of them. > or sign up to video the vote > http://www.videothevote.org/home.htm > don’t just complain about "the system" being broken. > I work as an IT professional (originally as a mainframe programmer and > now as a web designer) and I just don’t understand how something as > important as a voting machine can be so f’ed up. I mean, convenience > stores have electronic cash registered with touch sensitive screens > that work better than these voting machines. > What these voting machines basically are is fancy adding machines with > a counter for each selection. Programming a counter is one of the most > basic pieces of logic in programming outside of IF/ELSE statements. > Who is building and programming these things? If I turned in a project > as screwed up as these machines that are built for such a critical > task, my ass would be fired.
It is designed to work the way it does. That’s the whole point. And it’s not a matter of Dems or Reps – it’s a matter of who controls the machines. In fact the entire issue is control and who has it.
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… > Again, this is coming to critical products you depend on. You will not > be happy when you are forced to realize it has arrived…
well – this we can agree on.
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->But the voting machines are rigged for a reason and there has yet >to be a report that ANY glitch caused a democratic candidate >to receive more votes than they were supposed to get. It’s always >the republican candidate that benefits from the machine "errors". > Oh come on, what proof do you have that ONLY rep’s do this. > or, in fact, it is done on the scale of past..or at all. >But I have what I think is the perfect simple solution: >1 The presidential election day should be a national holiday >and there should be a country-wide uniform voting standard >as well as for the mid term elections of Congress. > GREAT IDEA. Maybe more people would vote. Make it a PAID holiday. >2 No matter what time zone, all voting should start and end >simultaneously. This is so the media can’t prematurely >predict the election which does affect the outcome since >some folks will not bother to vote if they think their candidate >is either way ahead or losing badly. > That might be a little harder, how about no media results > till all the polls close? Fair to all. Make up ya OWN minds. >3 A simple paper receipt that the voter can inspect and >verify if their votes were recorded correctly then inserted into >a box in case of a needed recount due to any malfunctioning >voting machines or alleged improprieties. > yep. Or at the very least, a paper receipt each voter gets.? >4 Of course have nonpartisan inspectors or representives of >both political parties present during the voting process and >the counting process to verify the validity of totals. > Yes, nopartisan being the key word..
Does anyone remember when the Russians offered to be observers at our polls? In some countries it’s against the law to not vote. Compulsory suffrage is a system where those who are eligible to vote are required by law to do so. Australia is an example of a country practising this form of suffrage. New Zealand was the first country to grant limited universal suffrage in 1893. Finland was the first European country to grant universal suffrage to its citizens in 1906, and the first country to make every citizen eligible to run for parliament. So much for our being world leaders on the subject of sufferage. In the United States, suffrage is determined by the individual states, not federally. There is no national "right to vote". The states and the people have changed the U.S. Constitution five times to disallow states from limiting suffrage, thereby expanding it. 15th Amendment (1870): no law may restrict any race from voting 19th Amendment (1920): no law may restrict any sex from voting 23rd Amendment (1961): residents of the District of Columbia can vote for the President 24th Amendment (1964): neither Congress nor the states may condition the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other type of tax 26th Amendment (1971): no law may restrict those above 18 years of age from voting More reasons I find it ironic that we are killing so many people in order to bring them democracy.
. My point exactly…as if they’ve got 1? Please. 
Scooter Libbey – indicted & investigation continues. 9) Dennis Hastert – being investigated even though he says he isn’t. He now claims that this is a leak. 10) James Tobin – only got 8 months in the NH phone scandal Mr Soul