Question For Those That Voted With A Big Red Lever...

[malik flavors]

This was my first time voting this way, my question is:

What's to keep a person from voting multiple times?

I pushed the lever to the right, made my choices, pushed the lever back to the left, and then was finished.

What was to stop me from just voting over and over again? I felt like I could have just started the process over again after I finished.

I accidently screwed up and finished voting before I chose the down ballot candidates, but i'm in Harlem and i'm pretty sure Charlie Rangel will get re-elected anyway. I also don't think there were any competetive races around here. So, I don't feel too bad about that, though I wish I had known exactly what I was doing. I'm used to the electronic machines.

[hedgehog]

1. If you watch carefully, the poll worker has to set a little button on the

back of the machine. They also keep track of how many people vote on each machine. I was 38, my husband was 37!

[malik flavors]

4. Really, I didn't notice the poll workers doing anything.

If I had pulled the lever back and forth would I have just been voting on the same ticket over and over? That would make since.

Do the switch the tickets out for every new voter, or something?

[Muttocracy]

6. I think there are mechanical gears that move - so it's like a set of old car odometer

but it can't keep getting notched forward by the same person.

People in the election reform and NY forums would know more.

[Tesha]

9. The lever machines don't record individual votes.

At the back of the machines are just a large array of counters that
record the total number of votes cast for each candidate, one counter
for each lever on the machine. At the end of the day, the readings of
all of the counters are printed (transferred) onto a single huge,
multi-copy tally sheet. The counters can also be manually examined
for "recounting".

Tesha

[malik flavors]

12. Interesting, thanks.

[JJ]

2. Been awhile, but I think they have to set something before

you can vote. Could be wrong.

IIRC all those machines I've ever used had a curtain that opened when you pulled the lever.

[Muttocracy]

3. did yours open and shut the curtain? ours open the curtain when you register your choices

so to vote more than once, your curtain would be flying open and shut, not to mention the CHA CHUNK!! noise.

[malik flavors]

5. I had a KA CHUNK noise, but the curtain didn't open and close.

Also, the poll watchers were high schoolers that wouldn't have even noticed multiple Ka CHUNKS.

The whole thing seemed strange to me.

[Muttocracy]

7. found NY State's voting machine info page:

from state board of elections page to this one

http://www.vote-ny.com/english/voting-machines.php

actually, you have to hover over the voting machine link on the left of that page and pick one of the types of lever machines.

[malik flavors]

10. Awesome, thanks a lot.

Oh yea, one more thing...I VOTED FOR CHANGE!!!!! WOO HOOOO!!!

[hedgehog]

8. The little levers with the red arrows make little chunk noise as

you flick them up and down, so you can change your mind. When you pull the big red lever left to right, it makes a BIG CHA-CHUNK and all the little arrows go back up (thereby registering your vote ) and the curtain opens.

http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/img/votenyc.mpg

[Muttocracy]

11. yours might be a different than what I used

http://www.vote-ny.com/english/machine-lever-shoup.php - Albany and NYC

mine - http://www.vote-ny.com/english/machine-lever-avm.php

[Curtland1015]

13. I use the big red lever...

...heh heh heh...

But anyway, yeah. The curtain automatically pops open when you finish voting. At least it does where I was.