Voting Machine Problems

[catscradle]

I heard about the voting machine problem in New Mexico the other day on 9 News in Denver. So I did a web check to see who was covering it, as 9 reported it as votes being changed to favor Bush. My roommate finally found the story in the Albuquerque Journal, and it's a bit different than how it got reported in Colorado. There is a problem with the wrong votes getting cast, but it's apparently happening for both Democrats and Republicans. Here's the story:

Some Early Voters Say Machines Mark Incorrect Choices

I like how the county clerk is defending the machines and claiming it's the fault of the person, not the machine. Lady, if enough people are having problems with the equipment, IT'S POORLY DESIGNED!

Hope this isn't a precursor to more election drama =P

Comments

[wiebke.livejournal.com]

Terry Gross did an interview yesterday afternoon with Dan Seligson from the Election Reform Information Project who led the publication of a big report from I think it was Vote Watch or one of the groups monitoring the election and specifically, things like machine problems, electronic voting, etc.

Of interest to me, Seligson was talking about "provisional ballots" and how basically those are ballots people are allowed to cast even though, when they report to vote, they might not have perfect proof that they're valid voters. These ballots are counted later, once it's determined whether or not they're valid. In some states it's now possible for people to go back and check later if their vote was counted, using a toll free number or something. In some cases they'll find their votes counted, in others not. There is no appeals process however, and Seligson said most people whose votes were discounted would *assume* it was for political resaons, even if the reason was not political (like, county never got their reg. form, they went to the wrong county to vote, etc.) So no matter if vote counting is screwed because of mechanical or political reasons, people will think it's political.

[catscradle.livejournal.com]

Which goes back to the problem of people not voting because they don't think it matters. Just to look at the numbers that *don't* turn out to vote, more people feel disenfranchised than not. And the voting process really doesn't make it welcoming regardless of whether or not the screw-up is political or mechanical.

But I'm kinda getting psyched up over this election to see what the percentage of turn out is and if everyone is just pissed enough to shake the apathy and vote. I know there's a record of registrations, but considering all the voting registration fraud going on, I'm wondering just how chaotic it's going to be election day.

You know there are so many different vote issue this election, I think someone needs to come up with a diagram or a pie chart or something to keep it all straight.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_darlingnicky_/]

I just read a story on CNN about voter turn out. They go state by state but the only percentage I saw was for Colorado. That state is reporting 60% turn out which is significantly higher than normal. But everyone was saying they're swamped.