New Laws and Machines May Spell Voting Chaos

[cal04]

New electronic voting machines have arrived in Yolo County, Calif., but there is one hitch: the audio program for the visually impaired in some of them works only in Vietnamese.

“Talk about panic,” said Freddy Oakley, the county’s top election official. “I’ve got gray-haired ladies as poll workers standing around looking stunned.”

As dozens of states are enforcing new voter registration laws and switching to paperless electronic voting systems, officials across the country are bracing for an Election Day with long lines and heightened confusion, followed by an increase in the number of contested results.

In Maryland, Mississippi and Pennsylvania, a shortage of technicians has vendors for new machines soliciting applications for technical support workers on job Web sites like Monster.com. Ms. Oakley, who is also facing a shortage, raided the computer science department at the University of California, Davis, hiring 60 graduate students as troubleshooters.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/19/us/politics/19voting.html?hp&ex=1161230400&en=cbb7481b529411c7&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[jimshoes]

1. I do believe Ohio

is going to go into complete meltdown if two things happen. 1st, if J. Kenneth Blackheart manages to get Strickland kicked off the ballot, that will cause a reaction that will be felt across the region, 2nd, if Blacwell's voter roll purge pisses off enough people on election day I would not be surprised if people start fighting right in the polling places. Things could get beyond ugly around here.

[bamacrat]

2. Why Vietnamese in America? Hmm, I wonder.

They are going to steal it if its close. We have to blow them out in November or we lose.

[PSPS]

3. Why do people stand for this?

If someone tried to pull any crap with me when I vote, I'd grab them by the throat and tell them I'll stop squeezing when they cut the crap. I mean, fuck these people. Who do they think they are?

[badgerpup]

4. What would happen if someone ANNOUNCED that their screen...

...had flipped?
I mean, right there...just

"Hey! I voted one way, and my screen just flipped it the opposite!" What gives here?"

ONLY if that's what happened...
I do NOT advocate yelling MOVIE! in a crowded firehouse...