(Maybe now, people will hear) Oprah's experience with electronic voting

[deminks]

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6603

'I went back to check it, it had not recorded my presidential vote!', Says Terrified, Potentially Disenfranchised Queen of Television...

Well, now, finally we may be able to get rid of these damned things, now that it's actually happened to Oprah. Via Huff Po...
"When I voted yesterday electronically, the first vote that you vote for on the ballot is the presidential candidate. It was my first time doing electronic, so I didn't mark the X strong enough, or I held down too long. Because then when I went back to check it, it had not recorded my presidential vote," she said.

She then simulated her meltdown, shaking and breathing heavily while stuttering out the words, "It didn't record my presidential vote."

Video at the link.

Also from Huffpo - link here

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/31/oprah-opts-for-early-voti_n_139869.html

[billyoc]

1. Now if we can just get a couple of professional wrestlers to talk about it, we'll be all set.

[cliffordu]

4. Or a NASCAR driver....

[EFerrari]

5. Or a plummer.

[cliffordu]

10. Amanda Plummer or Christopher Plummer????

[EFerrari]

11. That's freep for plumber.

The hits have been coming so fast, it's hard to keep up. :)

[cliffordu]

14. No shit - I outed one on another thread and then it got hit with ANOTHER one...

[blues90]

25. so just because this happens to Oprah it now matters?

She is no more important than anyone else who votes. It's always only the big people who matter and have a voice where it takes millions of common people and since 2002 when these abominations climbed into the polling booths no one gave a damn to change it?

[Common Sense Party]

2. I guess there are some radically different machines being

used in different parts of the country. Our touch screen machine could not have been easier to use. It would be very hard to mess up and do the wrong thing. Plus, it shows you the printed paper record of your vote before you move on, and you have the chance to decline the ballot and start over. It was simple as pie.

Obviously there are some very inferior machines out there. That sucks.

[cherokeeprogressive]

7. I'm curious to know of you remember which machine you used?

In Orange Co., CA, we used the eSlate 3000. It wasn't a touch-screen machine, and with it's VVPAT, it verified your vote on paper before you actually cast your ballot. I cannot remember one single instance in which a voter complained that the paper printout didn't match the votes they cast. Easy to use, and easy for Poll Workers to set up. One power cord operated up to 12 voting machines that were connected in a cascading fashion. The first machine connected to to the controller, the second machine connected to the first, the third to the second, and so on down the line.

I should add that I was the Lead Poll Worker Trainer for the county. Before I left to move to the mountains, I was responsible for training up to 8,000 Poll Workers each election. I had no problems whatsoever with the eSlate 3000 system then, nor do I now. I DO however, vote absentee because of the convenience.

[Common Sense Party]

8. I didn't even look, but I'll ask my wife to. She's working at the

polling place all day Tuesday. Ours was touch screen plus verified paper. I'll let you know which machine it is.

[emlev]

17. Please study up. Misinformation abounds.

Whether or not the voter checks the machine to make sure it displays the correct choices on screen, and whether or not the voter checks the "paper trail," there is NO WAY the voter (nor the poll worker, nor anyone else) can check that their VOTE will be counted correctly. Because the vote itself is electronically recorded and does not necessarily match EITHER the on-screen display OR the paper trail. This is true no matter what brand of DRE the voters are using.

They may be easy to use. They have no business in our elections.

[Common Sense Party]

20. And how do optical scan machines make sure your vote is counted?

For that matter, how do you know your punched cards are counted?

We're not around during the counting.

[emlev]

24. well,

Optical scanners can also be rigged or hacked so should only be used when there is rigorous auditing (specs available elsewhere) to make sure they're counting accurately.

What we *need* and the law in many cases insists on, though it's not followed, is a *transparent* system where people *are* observing the counting. That is the ONLY way we can know the voters are counted and counted accurately. It must be done in the precinct on election night, by people who haven't been working there all day.

Short of that, there is no basis for confidence in reported election results.

Sorry if I wrecked your day.

[truedelphi]

27. The thing is, anyone who wants to be around during the counting can do so

Call on Monday and tell your Local Registrar of Voters that you are planning on coming in to the Registrar's Office on Tuesday. That you plan on being there for the entire evening.

That you are a Vote Watcher. You CANNOT be forbidden to do this. You can even insist on being in the room with the central tabulater.

By doing this, there will be a human being on OUR SIDE should any "computer consultatnts, repair people, technicians etc" come in to do "work" on the tabulater.

Although people point out to me that even paper ballots can be "disappeared" or altered etc, it takes time for that to happen. It would take a lot of time, for instance to alter the million plus Dem votes in a city licke Chicago.

it only take s a few seconds for ONE TECHNICIAN to alter the votes on central tabulater.

[mucifer]

3. I voted in Chicago, too. You double check with a printout BEFORE you submit your vote

So Oprah visualized that she didn't vote for Obama, then she fixed it. No big deal! I visualized on the screen and on the paper that I did vote Obama!

[Common Sense Party]

9. I'm not sure what her big deal is. Seems like much ado about

nothing if she fixed it before the vote was cast.

[EFerrari]

12. A lot of people don't think to check and we lose those votes. n/t

[Common Sense Party]

13. And the other side loses the votes, too, when they don't check.

And I think this time, we'll be checking extra carefully.

[EFerrari]

15. No. There are no credible reports of this happening to REPUBLICAN votes.

The voting machine companies are all owned by Republican partisans.

Welcome to Guatemala!

[Common Sense Party]

21. Are there CREDIBLE reports of this happening en masse to Democratic

votes? Not just breathless innuendo and anecdotes?

The machines may have been MADE by Repuke partisans, but they are mostly operated by Democratic-run election boards and county clerks. You're not suggesting all those elected offocials are in on the conspiracy, are you?

[EFerrari]

22. We have an Election Reform Forum where you can look up

this information. Or, you can go to VoteTrustUSA and check it by machine model.

You might also search "vote flipping" here at DU. So far this year, it's happening to Democrats in five states. Oh, and Bradblog shamed an official in CO into taking one of these little numbers off line and into quarantine.

Enjoy your search.

[mucifer]

19. it FORCES you to check. It's not an option. Yes, you might not look at all of the

judges on the ballot, but you are gonna recheck the president and senator.

[emlev]

18. please see response #17 n/t

[busybl]

6. I hope she talks about it a lot on her show

[ColbertWatcher]

16. Welcome to DU; she'll have only two shows to make a difference (Mon & Tues)! n/t

[Generic Other]

23. Is Oprah live on Monday because if she is I suspect she will say something!

This will make millions of women hyper-vigilant at the polls. Rovian tricks vs the eagle eyes of millions of women? Ha!

[ColbertWatcher]

26. I don't know how she does her show, but ...

... if she's serious about her vote, she will do everything in her power to make voting as popular as those books she shills.

[Augdog20]

28. Just the tip of iceberg / site links

Click to my blog with well organized list of sites on this issue.


And vote in poll: how big will Obama's % be in big cities?
http://bluesunited.blogspot.com

with best vote flipping videos at the blog