BBV: In New Mexico, votes for Kerry openly go to Bush.

[Eric J in MN]

http://abqjournal.com/elex/246845elex10-22-04.htm

Friday, October 22, 2004

Some Voters Say Machines Failed, Incorrect Choices Appear on Screens

By Jim Ludwick
Journal Staff Writer
Kim Griffith voted on Thursday— over and over and over.
She's among the people in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties who say they have had trouble with early voting equipment. When they have tried to vote for a particular candidate, the touch-screen system has said they voted for somebody else.
It's a problem that can be fixed by the voters themselves— people can alter the selections on their ballots, up to the point when they indicate they are finished and officially cast the ballot.
For Griffith, it took a lot of altering.
She went to Valle Del Norte Community Center in Albuquerque, planning to vote for John Kerry. "I pushed his name, but a green check mark appeared before President Bush's name," she said.

------------


Near the end of the article is a claim that some Bush voters had their votes show up for Kerry. Small comfort.

These Sequioia machines are expensive hunks of garbage.

[Andy_Stephenson]

1. Thanks Eric

Looks like the election is shaping up to be a disaster.

[Eric J in MN]

5. You're welcome. It seems to be Sequoia, though the article

doesn't list the machine name.

[Andy_Stephenson]

6. Yes....

if it is Bernallio it is Sequoia.

[greekspeak]

2. I am sure that all of them will end up going to Shrub.

I don't trust anything that isn't on paper. The reich-wing election officials would not throw bloody fits about paper trails if they did not have anything to hide. I feel blessed, being in Florida but having optical scan.

[Andy_Stephenson]

7. Why?

with no meaningful audits...optiscans are just as vulnerable.

The Central Tabulator is the problem.

[greekspeak]

8. I am not saying the machines are not vulnerable

But unless they are going to make up a new form to show I voted for someone else, or unless they disappear it, there is a paper that proves who I voted for.

[Andy_Stephenson]

9. True...but there are no laws on the book...

(unless it is a very close race) that ever allow you to look at the paper again.

[greekspeak]

10. I cannot argue with that

However, if some fair recount system goes into play, there will be (theoretically) something tangible that the recount team can count. With these touch screens, your vote is gone to cyberland the second you cast it, just ripe for some dirty doins.

[Andy_Stephenson]

13. I know I know

TS machines suck

[bif]

3. The Repubs are already up to their same ol' tricks!

What a surprise!

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. Yeah , really

They've had four years to practice and perfect their same ol' tricks. All the proof needed that repugs will do anything to 'win' this election.

[tom_paine]

4. Dear God! EVERY STATE IN THE UNION!

These people are fucking NAZIS. No other way to describe this wholesale nationwide program of disenfranchisement.

And why is it these "errors" NEVER break in the Kerry direction

[SammyWinstonJack]

19. You really have to ask that?

I know you don't. :-(

[JohnGideon]

11. This Problem Is Not Unique To Sequoia

The problem is nothing but a touch-screen problem. If you rest your "other" hand on the screen in any way, it affects the calibration of the machine and votes are changed. The same problem is happening in Florida and Texas on ES&S touch-screens. It's NOT the central tabulator.

I don't mean to minimize this problem because it is a huge problem and has been happening for years with no fix to the problem. The fix is so damn easy it's hard to believe that no one has done it.

Just warn the voter not to touch the damn screen with their other hand. That would take care of a huge percentage of these "vote changing" problems.

Of course, the other solution and the one I like the best, is to get rid of the damm machines.

[Eric J in MN]

16. Are you confident that it isn't just a messed up machine, and

that if a voter touches with one finger while keeping his other hand away this won't happen?

[kerry-is-my-prez]

20. It's hard to believe that no one has (fixed it). They don't WANT it fixed.

"The fix is so damn easy it's hard to believe that no one has done it."

Do you not get it.... they do not want to fix it. It was either done on purpose or they just don't care to fix it.

[Zinfandel]

12. There's no doubt the Bush fascist machine is going to steal this election

[Zorra]

14. Republican legislators are fully responsible for the lack of a

genuinely transparent and tangibly accurate and recountable voting system.

Republicans, and republicans alone, stalled or blocked all corrective legislation.

I hope that the courts take this fact into consideration if there is a controversy over the election results.

Republicans clearly had a motive for stalling and blocking legislation that would have resulted in a more clear, simple, and verifiable nationwide voting process, and maybe Democrat attorneys could describe this in detail in court.

Any honest judge would be able to see that republicans were intent on insuring that election results are going to be highly confusing and questionable. Maybe this could work to the advantage of Democrats in any legal proceedings.

[JohnGideon]

15. By the way....

in Sandoval County the Republican votes are being changed to Democrat so it's not a partisan problem

[kerry-is-my-prez]

21. Where does it show that Repub. votes are being changed to Dem?

n/t

[JohnGideon]

22. Votes Changing From Repug to Demo

http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/politics/3841999/detail.html
<<snip>>
"When I was voting for other candidates, I had problems because I voted for the Republican candidate, and it would flip-flop to the Democrat," she said.
<<snip>>

[Cat Atomic]

18. Bush wins with 100% of the vote!

Apparently, even YOU voted for Bush! Thank you, patriot! Report to the nearest Draft Board for a victory celebration.

[Ima]

23. to close to truth to be funny

Bush wins with 100% of the vote!


Apparently, even YOU voted for Bush! Thank you, patriot! Report to the nearest Draft Board for a victory celebration.

[RedEagle]

24. Touch screens should be recalibrated frequently

The screens can be recalibrated and the poll workers should have been taught how to do that.

Some people may simply be using both hands to follow the ballot lines like they would on a piece of paper. But with touch screens, that will cause problems.

I think this may be a good case for only showing on votable item at a time on the screen. I believe the counties have options on displaying this way. Voters would be less inclined to "touch" the screen more than necessary.


Touch screens can record the vote wrong.

Tabulators can count the vote wrong.

You can't reconstruct voter intent with a touch screen. But if the system produces a voter verified paper ballot, then you can at least recount the tabulators version of the vote count.