By Brad Friedman on 6/19/2010, 4:35pm PT  

More disturbing news for voters who are forced to rely on the historically dreadful ES&S electronic voting system, this time in Alabama, on the paper-ballot system in Autauga County which uses a computer to tally votes:

PRATTVILLE --- District Attorney Randall Houston is investigating possible voting improprieties in Autauga County after someone allegedly gained improper access to the circuit clerk's computer.

At issue is a vote cast in the name of a Prattville man. His name wasn't on the list of final absentee voters Circuit Clerk Whit Moncrief produced the night before the primary election. After the election, the man's name was on the list as having voted absentee.

Houston said he is confident the veracity of the countywide vote tally hasn't been compromised. Autauga County is a strong Republican county, and news of the recount of the GOP nomination for governor has been front page news for the past two weeks.
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[Houston said,] "[W]e are in the early stages of the investigation. We have to go where the evidence takes us. We may find other problems as we go forward with this matter."
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"I ran a final report of all absentee voters the night before the election and this man's name was not on the list," Moncrief said. "From my recollection and the records at my disposal, this man didn't vote absentee. How his name got on the absentee list following the election is beyond me.

"The only thing I can think of is someone tapped into the computer used for absentees from outside my office."

The computer that records absentee information sits beside Moncrief's desk in his courthouse office. Access is double-password protected, and Moncrief said he hasn't given his passwords to anyone. When the problem regarding the security of the system came to light about mid-week, he said that he changed both of his passwords.

[Hat-tip Joyce McCloy of Voting News.]

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