Florida Touch Screen Machines Strangely Attracted To Republicans

[Jcrowley]

Florida ballot terminals favor Republicans
Even when voters don't
By Thomas C Greene in Dublin ? More by this author
Published Tuesday 31st October 2006 13:15 GMT

Florida voters using electronic ballot machines are having persistent problems choosing Democrats in early elections, the Miami Herald reports.

The touch-screen gizmos seem strangely attracted to Republican candidates. One voter needed assistance from an election official, and even then, needed three tries to convince the machine that he wanted to vote for Democrat Jim Davis in the gubernatorial race, not his Republican opponent Charlie Crist.

Democrat across the board kept finding Republicans listed in the summary screen. He made repeated attempts until, finally, the machine registered his votes correctly, and he cast his ballot.
Yet another frustrated voter who complained of difficulties selecting a Democrat was told that the machine she was using had been troublesome. Poll workers fiddled with it for a bit, and then it seemed to work properly.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/31/florida_terminals_dont_cooperate/

[KaryninMiami]

1. This is EXACTLY what happened to me in 2002.

It took 3 tries for it to display MY CHOICE for Governor. The first 2 times it said "please confirm your vote and push the red button. Jeb Bush". That's when I knew they were rigging the machines but had no one to tell since everyone I told said I was nuts and that it must have been a "glitch".

Glitch my ass. I figured what they must be doing is setting a default to the GOP, thinking that most people don't bother to take the time to recheck their votes and simply hit the Red button and leave the booth. I have no idea if, on top of this, whether my vote was counted anyway but was extremely disturbing then (I was sick over it for weeks until I discovered it had happened to hundreds of others- maybe more) and it's even more horrifying now since we have obviously made NO PROGRESS in this area.

Wake up America! This is our democracy damn it.

Don't get me started or my day will go right off track as it always does over this issue.... Tell everyone to watch HBO tomorrow night at 9pm and demand that everyone start SCREAMING.

[spag68]

3. Here's an idea

Why not have a red button and a blue button, just to confirm that a person voted Dem?

[spag68]

2. If this is true

and I have no reason to doubt it, why are there no lawyers or dem. reps. there to document this?

[KaryninMiami]

11. Because most of our Democratic leaders live in a state of denial

The rest are paralyzed because it's a GOP controlled house and Senate so nothing gets on to the floor. In 2001, there was a bill that would have passed since it has bi-partisan support- which would have guaranteed a paper back-up for all electronic voting machines. But, they would not allow it to get on the floor so no vote so nothing got done. The election reform community has been Screaming, demanding, emailing, etc. the DNC leadership and the media for the past 4 years. For the most part unfortunately, the Dems have been either in denial or totally passive (they do by they express concern sometimes). Finally the media is paying attention - CNN, MSNBC, HBO are all standing up and taking notice but it's probably too late for 2006 frankly. There may be hope for 2008 but only if we are relentless after this election and we TAKE TO THE STREETS (no joke here)if the results differ from the exit polls as they did in 2004.

Also, please call your elected officials and DEMAND THAT THEY DO NOT CONCEDE UNTIL EVERY VOTE IS COUNTED.This includes absentee and any other ballots that were not machine counted.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. "Strangely?" I think not

The machines are only doing what they have been programmed to do. As Microsoft might say, this is a feature and not a bug. :eyes:

[Jcrowley]

6. One-Way glitches, odd ain't it?

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.

http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/15869924.htm

[AllegroRondo]

7. and an incredibly easy 'bug' to program

If I had to come up with a program to do this...

First, we know that touch screens like these are a bit unstable and need regular calibration, and maybe 1 out of 100 screen touches will 'undetermined'. You just use that to your advantage. Set the 'default' selection to "R". If the voter touches the screen and the machine has difficulty telling exactly what was selected, it automatically selects the "R" for you. Very simple program. And it doesnt take a lot of extra code or look that bad.

[FredStembottom]

8. A worthwhile insight. Thanks!

Exploiting a known glitch would put a hack into the background further. And could possibly remain categorized forever as just "a glitch".

[marions ghost]

9. seems to me

these machines should be illegal.

I'm no computer expert but I know it is perfectly possible to make a voting machine that does not have "default to Republican" glitches.

Voters need to reject these machines. They are an insult to democracy.

[TechBear_Seattle]

21. Why do you think the source code is proprietary?

I don't mind electronic voting machines (as long as they leave a paper ballot which gets tabulated separately and not just a voter receipt.) But I think all voting machine software should be open source and definitely open to inspection.

[Joe_VB]

5. Fiddled with it a bit? WTF!!!!!!!

[Pacifist Patriot]

10. Yeah, that comment sure screamed at me. WTF indeed!

[nashville_brook]

18. word.

[meldroc]

12. Yeah, this is no accident.

I'd be more likely to think it's a miscalibrated touch screen or a minor software glitch if the machines occasionally flipped votes both ways - sometimes from Republican to Democrat, sometimes from Democrat to Republican. So far, I've only seen stories of machines that flipped from Democrat to Republican. That makes me very suspicious that these machines are running malicious code.

[jsamuel]

13. This is one way to get "undecideds" to vote for a Repub

Switch their vote to the Repub candidate and then they won't care enough to change it at the summary screen.

That will give all Repubs an at least 2% advantage in every race.

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. I note this story is being told in the UK. The rest of the world doesn't

wear blinders about the stolen US elections and the farce of pretended democracy in this country. Ah, the compliant, bought-and-sold American press. Such a cllimate of repression and constant propaganda that there is widespread expectation that Keith Olbermann's bold telling of the truth will result with his being somehow removed or muzzled despite his high and increasing ratings.

Surely these machines can be programmed to show a vote for a Democrat when the vote is counted for the Republican? Just a bit of fiddling...

[Jcrowley]

15. Today's Program

Wednesday's Show
 
Election 2006:Tracking Elections
Election reform expert Dan Seligson is the editor of Electionline.org, a nonpartisan and non-advocacy organization that tracks and analyzes election reform issues. The site is a venture of the Election Reform Information Project.
 
Election 2006:Race and the Voting Landscape
NAACP officers Marvin "Doc" Cheatham and Rev. Nelson B. Rivers, III, talk about manipulation of African-American voters, and the efforts they are making to change the voting landscape. Cheatham is the seventh president of the NAACP Baltimore city branch, and an election specialist. He's also the founder and chairman of the Maryland Voting Rights Restoration Coalition. Rivers is CEO of the NAACP.

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13

[Jcrowley]

16. Florida Diebold machines help you pick the right candidate

Florida Diebold machines help you pick the right candidate
Posted Oct 30th 2006 7:41PM by Cyrus Farivar
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Apparently Diebold's problems aren't limited to Maryland, Georgia or Alaska -- what a shocker. Down in the Sunshine State, during a week of early voting before next week's nationwide midterm election, certain Diebold machines have been registering some votes for Democrats as selections for the Republican candidate. For instance, Gary Rudolf, a voter at a polling site near Ft. Lauderdale, tried to vote for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis (D); however, when the Diebold machine gave him the final review screen, it showed his vote was about to be cast for Charlie Crist (R). The problem took three tries to get resolved with the help of a local poll worker. Mary Cooney, a Broward County Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman, informed The Miami Herald that 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." Huh? How exactly does a computer -- one that is being used heavily for one day a year, and not a $100 PDA -- "slip out of sync" ? Further, no one in Broward County is even sure how large of a problem this is "because there's no process for poll workers to quickly report minor issues, and no central database of machine problems." Is it any wonder that major candidates are urging voters to vote the analog old-fashioned way?

http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/30/florida-diebold-machines-help-you-pick-the-right-candidate/

[BreweryYardRat]

17. Glad I'm voting absentee.

Or at least, trying to. Fucking campus post office shutting down an hour before they were supposed to...

[Xenotime]

19. Their machine is in full swing

[joeunderdog]

20. This article is evidence of strong news coverage

from the UK.

:wtf: