Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga encounters voting problems

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/election/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_vpdebate/archives/2006_11.html

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Cuyahoga encounters voting problems

11:14 a.m.

More than 40 polling places in Cuyahoga County reported problems when the polls opened this morning, a spokesman from the Board of Elections said.

Forty-three of the county’s 573 voting places either failed to open on time or couldn’t get some or all of their electronic voting machines to work, Alan Melamed said.

At Boulevard School in Shaker Heights voters who showed up first-thing were turned away temporarily because electronic voting machines were not working. The poll workers later reverted to paper ballots and began welcoming voters, Melamed said.

It was not clear mid-morning how many polling places are using paper ballots, which must be scanned by the Optical Scanning Machines.

...

[katinmn]

1. %$#%@^%! More chaos brought to you by the GOP

Looks worse than 04 since we have all those damn machines.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Cleveland Leader: More Ohio Election Day Problems

http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/671

More Ohio Election Day Problems

Submitted by Julie on Tue, 2006-11-07 12:45.

Ohio was a hotbed for Election Day problems back in 2004, and it seems that this may be the case again this year. While the day is only half over, a number of problems have already been reported:

• The Franklin County phone system crashed due to an overwhelming number of calls regarding the election.
• ElectionProtection.com reports widespread problems with voting machines and confusion implementing the state's photo ID requirement.
• An overnight break-in has caused one polling location in Columbus to open late.
• Congresswoman Jean Schmidt struggled to cast her optical scan ballot, which the machine repeatedly rejected. Similar scanning problems have been reported in Akron.
• In Cleveland there have been reports of long lines, and poll workers struggling to get machines up and running.
• In Athens County in southeast Ohio, the prosecutor warned voters to be leery of fraudulent calls claiming their voting precinct had been changed.
• Frustrated voters across the state have been reported leaving polling locations without casting their ballots.

...

[pro_blue_guy]

4. Wow

"Congresswoman Jean Schmidt struggled to cast her optical scan ballot, which the machine repeatedly rejected."


Gee, even the voting machines don't like Mean Jean! :)

[AngryOldDem]

3. Same thing happened in Muncie, IN

The machines were not "programmed" properly, so many precincts did not open on schedule. Last I heard, they were petitioning the courts to allow them to stay open past close.

In a further irony, an election official was quoted as saying that if people have reservations about the electronic voting process, they should probably cast absentee (i.e., paper) ballots! What a RINGING endorsement of e-voting, huh?

As Lewis Black says, it's enough to make your head explode.

I used to look forward to Election Day. Now, I can feel my blood pressure going right through the ceiling.

[sarcasmo]

8. Eliminate the Machine in 08, Vote Absentee.

[OhioChick]

5. 43 Polling Locations Report Problems

POSTED: 11:02 am EST November 7, 2006
UPDATED: 2:01 pm EST November 7, 2006

CLEVELAND -- Several problems were reported at the polls Tuesday, NewsChannel5 reported.

The problems were frustrating for many people.

Forty-three polling locations had some serious problems -- that's 6 percent of all polls in Cuyahoga County.

The problems are similar to what happened in the May primary. Electronic voting machines didn't work, there were long lines and poll workers and technicians didn't show up.
http://www.newsnet5.com/politics/10263564/detail.html

[ProgressiveEconomist]

6. k&r

[EnviroBat]

7. It's time for Blackwell to GO TO PRISON!