Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Two elections so far this year and Cuyahoga Co Ohio is 0-2 in successful recounts. Both recounts were in small municipal elections and in both cases the recounted voter verified paper trail (vvpat) votes failed to match the official machine results. Why? Mistakes in counting? Not according to the county. The problem is that the vvpats are at times difficult and sometimes impossible to read. These vvpats along with audits of those vvpat ballots are supposed to be an acceptable solution to the problems with DREs. Cuyahoga Co is now concerned that they may have a close county-wide race that will require many days of trying to decipher what is on the vvpat tapes. Remember that in Ohio the vvpat is the vote of record in an audit so any damaged or unreadable ballots may be lost ballots and they could affect the results of an election. This, again, is proof that adding a vvpat printer to a DRE is like adding a seat belt to a Pinto. Let’s “Rage Against The Machines” and recall them all....

• NAtional: Diebold/Premier Admits Memory Card Failure On Popular Optical-Scan Voting Machines
  With Elections Impending Next Week, Company Downplays, Hides Failure Rate
  http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5242
• NAtional: TIME: The 'Stampede Away from Touch-Screen'
  http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5245
• CA: Monterey County - Pushing paper ballot envelope
  Electronics will be used only for counting
  http://origin1.montereyherald.com/ci_7366681
• CT: Longing For The Certainty Of Levers, Curtain
  http://www.courant.com/n...artnov04,0,5059490.story
• FL: Sarasota County - Voting group plans to appeal ruling Appeals court struck down extra audits; state Supreme Court is next
  http://www.heraldtribune.../711020314/1270/NEWS0101
• FL: Dent said complaint has no merit
  http://www.sun-herald.co...#038;folder=NewsArchive2
• IN: Marion County - No replay of primary, officials say
  Election staff says plan is in place to ensure polls run smoothly
  http://www.indystar.com/...05/711040394/1004/SPORTS
• OH: Activists mourn 2004 election, Democracy
  http://blog.dispatch.com..._funeral_for_ele_1.shtml
• OH: Cuyahoga County 0-for-2 in recounts
  Run-up to election gives officials pause
  http://www.cleveland.com...30484390.xml&coll=2
• OH: Cuyahoga County - Recount procedures, paper jams worry Cuyahoga elections officials
  http://www.ohio.com/news...rticleID=190971&c=y
• PA: Bradford County - Election officials provide voting tips
  http://www.thedailyrevie...ept_id=465049&rfi=6
• PA: Lackawanna County - A step-by-step look at voting on paper ballots
  http://www.thetimes-trib...ept_id=415898&rfi=6
• TX: State voter database working better
  http://news.galvestondai...so?ewcd=a54a4332d942da96
• VA: Voting problems mostly corrected
  http://www.inrich.com/cv...RTD-2007-11-04-0137.html
• VA: Botetourt County voters to get write-in help
  Voting involves typing the candidates' names using a touch-screen keypad.
  http://www.roanoke.com/politics/wb/138372

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