Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org
David Tom, elections manager, county of San Mateo: “I feel very secure in the machines and how they work. We do a lot of testing on these machines and we’re absolutely 100 percent sure these machines will work the way they do.” Huh?? / “We can expect that things will go smoother this November,” said Michelle Shafer, spokeswoman for Sequoia. In other words, more problems will be blamed on ‘human error’ than in previous elections. / Tonights DVN is more heavily weighted toward reports of problems and less to the editorials and opinions. Some of the news services and local media outlets are talking about the ‘minor glitches’ and ignoring the major failures across the country. Today’s election proved Ms. Shafer wrong but the blame will go on the ‘human error’ just the same….
NAtional: Concern grows over ballot fraud LINK
NAtional: Candidates Advised To ‘Citizen Audit’ Race Before Conceding LINK
NAtional: Protecting The Democratic Vote
A Formula for Catching Election Fraud. LINK
NAtional: Justice department dispatches election monitors LINK
NAtional: Voting machine companies to deploy thousands of techs LINK
NAtional: Polling places turn to paper ballots after glitches LINK
NAtional: Lawmakers among those snagged by voting problems LINK
NAtional: New voting machines and dirty tricks confound voters LINK
NAtional: Watchdog groups report e-voting problems
Coast-to-coast snafus involve flipped votes, machine failures LINK
AR: Garland County: More Voting Problems LINK
AZ: Photo finish in Arizona LINK
CA: Bay Area – Minor malfunctions at East Bay polls LINK
CA: Butte County – Voting machine stolen from Chico area; Recovered LINK
CA: Contra Costa County – Minor malfunctions at Contra Costa polls LINK
CA: Riverside County – Locks demanded for vote machines; critics say ‘sleepovers,’ though legal and common, are an unnecessary risk LINK
CA: San Diego County – Judge tosses paper-ballot lawsuit calling for 1.3 million paper ballots LINK
CA: San Mateo Rolls Out New Voting Machines LINK
CO: A thing or 2 amiss at sites LINK
CO: Denver – Computer logjams plague Denver voting LINK
CO: Denver – CHAOS: Problems worsen, Dems seek voting extension LINK
FL: Broward County – No chads, but plenty of doubts LINK
FL: Broward County – Deerfield Beach voters frustrated by bad electronic ballots LINK
FL: Broward County – Ballot problem delays voting 90 minutes in Deerfield Beach LINK
FL: Lee County – Minor glitch reported as polls open LINK
FL: Lehigh County – Voter smashes touch-screen machine in Allentown LINK
FL: Miami-Dade County – Dade Votes Were Possibly Lost In 2004 Election LINK
FL: Palm Beach County – Voting officials putting out fires LINK
FL: Palm Beach County – Voting machine frustrations at Jeaga Middle School LINK
FL: Palm Beach County – Supervisor answers voter complaints on polling place, posters LINK
FL: Sarasota County voters may mandate paper ballots LINK
IA: Pocahontas County – Scattered voting machine snags reported LINK
ID: DISABLED VOTERS ASKED TO USE PUNCH CARD BALLOTS LINK
IL: Chicago – NBC5 Viewers Report Voting Problems LINK
IL: Cook County – Voters face low-tech problem: Not enough pens LINK
IL: Kane County – State’s Atty. wants voting extended to 9:30 p.m. in Kane County LINK
IN: Delaware County – Voting Troubles Plague Delaware County LINK
IN: Delaware County – Voting Computer Error at 75 Delaware County Precincts LINK
IN: Problems Reported With Voting Machines by Microvote LINK
IN: Marion and Delaware Counties – Voting off to rocky start in Marion, Delaware Counties LINK
KY: Poll worker charged with assault LINK
MD: Polling Places Report Some Problems LINK
MO: Missouri Sec. of State Forced to Show Photo ID at Poll When Voting! LINK
MS: Officials say elections going smoothly, despite minor problems LINK
MS: Hancock County – Computer Problems Force Some Hancock County Voters To Use Paper Ballots LINK
MS: Harrison County – Poll Workers Struggle With New Voting Machines LINK
NJ: Voting problems reported in NJ LINK
NJ: Election observers concerned about e-vote tampering LINK
NJ: NJ voting machine woes reported, but no major problems LINK
NM: Phone Calls Directing Voters to the Wrong Polling Place Continue LINK
NM: GOP calls ballot shortage malicious LINK
NY: How to vote is the next major issue ahead LINK
OH: Long lines, problems with voting machines reported across Ohio LINK
OH: Cuyahoga County – Cuyahoga encounters voting problems LINK
OH: Cuyahoga County – 16 Cleveland polls stay open longer LINK
OH: Franklin County: Delay in counting could leave close races up in air LINK
OH: Stark County – Lines and problems reported at scattered polling sites LINK
OH: Summit County – Election officials report voting problems; turnout heavy LINK
PA: Allegheny County – Several Reports Say New Voting Machines Not Working LINK
PA: Centre County – Commissioners: Voting machines result in minor glitches LINK
PA: Lancaster County – Electronic voting machine problems reported early LINK
SC: Judge: Computer glitch means 4 polling sites to stay open longer LINK
TN: Reported election problems LINK
TN: Dems will go to court this afternoon to ask for polls to stay open LINK
TX: Problems await some local voters at the polls LINK
TX: Fort Bend County – Voting problems reported in Fort Bend this morning LINK
UT: A few glitches mar early voting in Salt Lake City LINK
UT: Problems for voters in Utah County; some delays in Salt Lake LINK
UT: Voting machine encoders fail in Utah County LINK
UT: Utah County – UPDATE: Voting machine glitch causes big delays, county says problem fixed LINK
UT: Daggett County – Election Fixing Charges Fly in Utah Town LINK
**”Daily Voting News” is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in “Daily Voting News” may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or BradBlog.Com**
John:
Have you ever worked in an election? Have you contributed in a positive way to the improvement of elections? My question to you is where were you when punch cards, with an estimated error rate of 15%, was occurring. I am not saying “electronic” voting, of which has been occurring in one form or another over the last fifty years, is a perfect solution, but I am curious about the voices who were not present twenty five, thirty and forty years ago.
I could argue elections are more transparent in this country than forty years ago. John, since you are an “expert,” give me some analysis on that one.
He’s been contributing in a tirelessly positive way for a very long time, Phil. Go take your nasty attitude somewhere else.
Agent 99 – I am not slamming John. However, I am asking a legitimate question about why now the inquiry into counting votes. Why were not these questions asked fifty, forty years ago. What about “Landslide Lyndon” Johnson and winning by 86 votes for a US Senate seat in Texas in 1948, when voting was done by hand (counted) and the voter rolls were completed in alphabetical order (signed in order by voters, which never happens in the real world). I am just asking about people’s experience in elections and working elections, which county staffs’ work tirelessly for six months to prepare for a major election.
I like the website…Please 99, do not jump and say I am being nasty, for I am not so.
Get over it, Phil. We’re talking about a wholesale slaughter of the Constitution here, and your line of questioning is just nasty, beside the point tonight, in a serious way. John Gideon has been breaking his butt for YOU, every single day, all day, for a very long time. Desist with your blubbering. Contribute positively to the present emergency, or just dry up.
99:
I do not need to get over it. Please knock out the irrevant chatter 99, and speak about the facts. Have you ever seen voter fraud on touch screens? optical scan? What do you find to be the slaughter of the Constitution? Instead of trying to imply the questioning by me is nasty, answer me what have you done to improve the constitutional process in America? What is the present emergency?
phil mccracken
We do not have habeas corpus anymore, and the Posse Comitatus Act has been gutted. Any one of us can be picked up, taken away, locked up, by members of the military, without recourse to an attorney, without ever being charged, executed at the whim of the executive. That is the present emergency… beside, of course, the hundreds of thousands of innocent people we are killing. This is the Constitution you once told us you would die to defend, voided in front of your eyes, and you can’t see the emergency?
You don’t come to a blog full of people working their butts off to prevent more election fraud — which is what brought us to this emergency — and ask them what they’ve done. Even a dope can tell that’s offensive… out of line… an ad hominem attack.
Have you ever seen voter fraud on touch screens? optical scan? What do you find to be the slaughter of the Constitution?
You’ll never see voter fraud on touch screens. That’s the point. It’s easy to access the machines, easy to code exploits and easy to cover your tracks.
Furthermore, all of the above is made easier by the fact that many (or perhaps most) election staff either did not understand the voting machines properly or didn’t understand the counting process properly. One of last night’s key races still hangs in the balance due to user error on the systems.
More than the Republicans, the real losers in this election were the election officials. Even if you throw out the electronic voting issues, there were reports of people handing out campaign literature in polling places, massive shortages of paper ballots despite predictions of massive voter turnout and reports of unannounced polling location changes.
I’m all for giving people a break. I know they work hard. But an election process that functions properly is integral to the stability of our democracy — there’s no reward for second place in elections and there’s no room for C-grade work in the elections process.