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Yet again, voting problems in WV. Early voters in West Virginia have reported vote switching on electronic machines. Both counties where problems have occurred have Republicans in charge of voting, along with our GOP secretary of state.
The first was a report from multiple voters in Jackson County, one of the few GOP-leaning counties in WV:
"When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain," said Matheney…the poll worker in charge "responded that everything was all right. It was just that the screen was sensitive and I was touching the screen too hard. She instructed me to use only my fingernail."
Even after she began using her fingernail, Matheney said, the problem persisted.
The second occurred over the weekend, for voters in Putnam County, WV:
"I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican," she said. "I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.
"I asked them for a printout of my votes," Ketchum said. "But they said it was in the machine and I could not get it. I did not feel right when I left the courthouse. My son felt the same way."
There are reports that the questionable machines have been recalibrated or pulled, but no information on that is available at the WV Secretary of State’s website. Could easily be an innocent error, but how can you know without further information? There is, however, a note about preventing voter fraud.
One would think prevention should start with making sure machines contracted aren’t trying to cheat people out of their votes.
Early voting began in WV on October 15th. Counties here use a mix of electronic voting, optical scan paper ballots, and old-style paper ballots. Both counties reporting recent errors use machine voting, but this comes on the heels of multiple reports of problems with calibration of software for the optical scan machines.
Carper said the mistake was made by the vendor, Election Systems & Software Inc. in Nebraska. State and county election officials repeatedly have had problems with ES&S missing deadlines and making mistakes on voting materials….
Carper is unhappy with the voting glitch. "The problem is this is the day before the election starts," he said. "This does not instill confidence in the voting system.
Gee, ya think?!? WVBlue has more here, including a number WV voters can call to report problems to Obama/Dem HQ: (304) 341-0205. You can also report problems nationwide to 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
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If this keeps up, we will have to begin chanting “Long Live President McCain” or “Long Live President Palin”.
Remember when the government was of the people, by the people, and FOR the people?
The good news is that this stuff is getting reported this year. In 2004, there wasn’t as organized a mechanism for getting the word out on problems and who to contact if there were any. Not so this year — and that’s a decided improvement.
Now, if we can just get better voting… *g*
Good morning, Christy.
The system where a voter puts a checkmark on a piece of paper and then dunks their finger in purple dye seemed to work in…oh, it was somewhere, I’ll think of it in a minute….
It still is. You’re just not one of the “right” people.
Morning Christie: How is the fuller house?
I would like to see some attorneys file with the courts to have the election shut down until the machines are replaced by paper ballots.
There have been reports nationwide of problems, including voter roll purges in some states without prior notification to the voters of changes in their registration status. Do be certain to take proper identification with you to the polls and, to be sure, try voting early to ensure that if there is a problem with your vote, you’ll have ample time to get things fixed before election day.
I’m voting early — not taking any chances here, thanks.
This is despicable. If McCain wins by cheating there will be riots in the street. His campaign has been, and is, playing with fire.
The “fuller” house is definitely fuller. But, luckily, things are going well thus far. Ask me in a coupla weeks… *g*
The only solution to voting machine problems is regulation. The only chance for regulation is the removal of Republics from power.
Paper ballots are the only way to go. The machines do not own our votes.
I am hoping that this year there is so much publicity about these problems that the theft will not stand.
Carper said the mistake was made by the vendor, Election Systems & Software Inc. in Nebraska. State and county election officials repeatedly have had problems with ES&S missing deadlines and making mistakes on voting materials….
Chuck Hagel’s name has been linked to this company. If Hagel had been Obama’s VP pick, the machines might work better.
Oh, my goodness. It’s just like that Simpson’s clip about voting. Was that you who posted it?
But, I agree that it’s very good this is being reported early. Another huge talking point. Make sure your vote gets tallied correctly.
The problem is, how do you know if you’re reporting it to the person who caused it to begin with!
My worst fears quickly realized. These reports will be drowned out in the deafening crescendo of the Right screaming about “Voter Fraud”.
Banana, meet Republic.
Yes! It’s exactly like that Homer Simpson clip I posted a coupla weeks ago…
My number 13 was meant for Christy at 2!
Early voting is so important for exactly the reason you say, Christie. People can find out their status, and if there are problems, they can get them resolved before Nov. 4.
I hope people will not sit by if there is another stolen election. Barack should be holding a big pile of money for election challenges if there is election fraud, again.
Now why is it that we can’t let the free market replace the inefficient government bureaucracy that runs voting? After all, we just spent a trillion or two bailing out Wall Street, we have to start saving somewhere!
It’s getting quite a bit of play here in WV — so it’s certainly NOT getting drowned out in terms of local media trying to dig into this. All the reports are from local news folks asking the right questions and from our local WVBlue blog doing some follow-up.
So this is far from being swept under the rug this time around. And why I’m giving it more visibility.
Might be a good idea for people to bring a video camera into the voting booth with them.
Nothing will get the attention of the secretary of state faster than a YouTube that shows their voting machines acting screwy.
Well, I guess the Repubs now have their own little problem with “tearing at the very fabric of our deomocracy:”
“The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario over the weekend on suspicion of voter registration fraud.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/lo…..2357.story
It seems pretty obvious that they fully intend to steal the vote (again).
It also is evident that this time, the electorate will not tolerate it, and will take to the streets to protest it.
It is my contention that this is the reason for US troops being stationed in DC. They knew push was going to come to shove, and planned for it a year ago:
http://www.wesh.com/news/13949580/detail.html
Welcome to Argentina.
The Obama campaign has put together a very sophisticated apparatus for dealing with these issues, actually. I’m hoping to have some more on that in a bit…
Mornin’ Ms Christy. Hope your b’day was a wonderful one.
I’m sure the Peanut was beside herself having her Grampa and Daddy both home. She probably didn’t know which one she wanted to cuddle with the most (though I bet Grampa won out for now). :})
“democracy”
(shuffles off to get more coffee)
:) Thanks for reposting.
Now, I have to go search YouTube for the John Denver song you have gotten in my head.
Had a great birthday, thanks — got taken out to lunch and then for ice cream (The Peanut’s choice…lol). And then, came home and had a lovely nap. It’s the little things. *g*
What will happen if on election night all the exit polls say Obama is the clear winner but on the morning of Nov. 5th we are told that McCain has pulled off the greatest upset in U.S. history? 2 words. Civil War.
In Florida one can Vote early at public libraries. It is important to vote in person and not mail in your ballot. Mail-in ballots may easily become excluded for slight technical errors if the vote is for Democrats.
At the polling place, Republican poll workers are eager to purge Democratic voters for address changes. Make sure you give the poll worker the address that matches their record. They are trained to disenfranchise you.
You have to be careful of that though. The Kentucky Secretary of State has already warned that doing that in Kentucky is against the law and will be prosecuted. He’s not happy with YouTube and the folks who suggested the filming.
bom dia pups
*sigh* I agree with puravida @ 24
you all are posting some wonderful ideas on how to make it more likely your vote will be counted
One major reason why the Republicans might try to steal this one (like the last two) is that they already know what’ll happen if they do.
I certainly appreciate you making us aware of these issues. I’m just overly jaded. I’ve been having recurrent nightmares of what a Palin Administration would look like.
Christy — For you! and anybody else who wants a smile or little tear this am.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN86d0CdgHQ
Really good idea, Peterr.
Here in CO no one is allowed to use any electronics in polling places. This includes cell phones and lap tops.
Got a link for that? I’d love to see the law the KY SOS cites, as well as his specific remarks.
I can see that it would be against the law for someone else to bring a camera into a voting booth while I’m voting, but why would it be illegal for ME to bring a camera into my voting booth?
Again, I’d love to see the legal citation on that. Got a link?
Poll watchers can use a clipboard to note who has and hasn’t voted, but they can’t use a lap top to do the same thing? They can use a pay phone to call their precinct captain, but not a cell phone or wifi email?
Sounds either very fishy or that some laws need to be updated.
Thanks Christy.
digg
D’oh! Not available!
per Hufpost Judith Miller joining Fox….
Sorry for OT, but my dad is front page at NPR this morning. . .”Atomic Ed” by John Burnett on Morning Edition. He won’t be around much longer, but he’s not dead yet.
Oh, bummer! It was fricking hilarious!
This is what I’ve feared was coming all year. I voted early in my little town. The town clerk took my ballot in the envelope in which i ssealed it and put it in a “box” in the supply closet. I asked her “Where did you put my ballot?” Her response was that she put the early voter absentee ballots in “a box” which she locked up at night. I asked her to explain to me how those absentee ballots get counted, when, by whom. She was reluctant to tell me (I know she’s a repub — she knows my affiliation as well as this is a small town and she knows everyone’s party registration). I’m not accusing her of anything but the fact that she was not forthcoming with info gave me pause, I mean, Do I not have a right to know precisely what is happening to my ballot until it is “counted” supposedly by the old ladies who do that here, on election day? Any one of her co workers could just toss ballots in the trash. Yes, I realize that according to her at the end of each day she feeds voter info to the state database, who has voted already absentee, etc. But how are we to really KNOW what happens to out ballots when they are simply put in a cardboard box by one individual?
It left me feeling quite helpless.
MSNBC is reporting on the republican guy that was arrested for committing voter fraud.
Very, very cool!
Here in Georgia, absentee voting has traditionally favored the Republicans. They have real jobs, you know. And vacations to go on. They couldn’t be bothered to show up on election day and vote. Now that early voting here has been a huge success, and the number of AA early voters is huge, one of the top state R’s that really supported absentee voting is now saying they may have to rethink early voting. Where there used to be only one day for voter fraud to occur, now there are several weeks worth of opportunities for voter fraud. Seriously, that’s his argument.
Perhaps we should blame the voters.The machines are smarter. And they have been recalibrated. Stupid people need to know where to put their fingers.
VOTE EARLY AND USE PAPER!
I bet, Hommer usually is!
Right where she will fit in perfectly. What a come down.
From Saturday’s Lexington Herald-Leader
Laws might need to be updated’ But this is what i was informed at Obama Poll Watcher training. Some one might be able to manipulate some of these machine – I don’t know.
It’s the Hans Von Spakovsky theory of gaming the vote this year. He was harping on absentee ballots earlier this year…if you have a link one some reports on that, I’d lvoe to see them.
As the commentor said, paper ballots! The only kind which can actually be audited.
“but why would it be illegal for ME to bring a camera into my voting booth?”
Cell phones (and that’s what people mean by cameras) off once you’re in the facility is the ONLY reasonable rule. Can you imagine the racket otherwise?
And, yes, it’s reasonable to exclude cameras. The potential for spying on the votes of others and otherwise invading privacy would be high. Having said that, if a machine is flipping, I think one would be forgiven for turning on that cell phone and ‘filming’ it.
Another Fox in the Fox House. Surely, Judy realizes that Fox is a right-wing propaganda outfit. None of the viewers will know who she is. They will have to explain it to them slowly. New York City?!
Long time reader first time writer . . . I first heard about your website a few years back from Ambassador Joe Wilson, when he came to give a lecture at my college, FSU. Since then I have been reading your blogs as often as I can. What I like about your blogs is that they are heavily foritified with facts and stats to back up your points of view. Many people have opinions(like the MSM), but it refreshing to find a site with so much truth from real world, everyday people and how it relates to us, everyday people.
My name is Michael and I am from the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. I will be voting early this weekend and I hope everything goes well.
This Homer Simpson tries to vote for Obama link works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtwZSF7uQLw
According to my Dedicated Dem DAughter campaigning up north, the second most heavily ethnic contingent city in my state closed one of the polling places in that district, so the few other-then-white voters in my white as the driven snow state will not know where to vote. I simply can’t believe this whole issue hasn’t been dealt with by the Dems over the last 8 years. It’s very disheartening.
It is said that the Dems have 5000 lawyers ready to do battle at polling place across the nation. Does anyone have numbers on the number of Repub lawyers ready to do the same?
Welcome, Michael — hope you comment more often. And let us know how the early voting goes in Philly!
Ooops — Jersey — mis-typed that one.
Just a coincidence that Hans is from GA? I’ll go look for a couple of links…
Kinda weird that a voting machine would allow a voter to see her choice being changed onscreen.
Or is this just another way the GOP says “f–k you?”
We have the touch screens here with no option for a printout. It is an ungratified vetoing experience.
OT
Wow, McCain’s life expectancy has finally become an issue (via T/P):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10…..ref=slogin
Why are they not revealing Palin’s medical records until AFTER the election?
Anything to do with the virgin birth?
Thank you to your dad. Not easy to do what he does considering where he lives.
Mercifully, we have the option of a paper ballot here. And I will be exercising that option, although they are counted by optical scan. But my county has had a tradition of doing tests and retests after the vote is counted ot be certain that sample segments have been tallied accurately. Here’s hoping they continue that…and I don’t doubt they will, since we have a good county clerk who takes her job very seriously.
Welcome to the Lake. Stop by often and comment.
For folks in Florida, there is an Obama rally in Orlando this afternoon with Hillary Clinton. Looks like it’s open to the public — and I’d get there before 3 pm if I were someone who wanted to go…
Here in CO many of the polling places that have proved problematic in the past will have full time lawyers. Others will have lawyers floating and ready to respond to any problems.
Boy I wish there was some awareness brought to this issue a long time ago. /snark.
The only positive note about the Optical Scanner is you do have a paper trail to go back and perform a manual recount.
With a touchscreen, you could easily manipulate the calibration to register a vote for one party or the other just simply by touching anywhere on the screen.
Good. You know, it didn’t have to come to this…where we are forced to bring this up at this late date.
Concede, McCain. Save whatever little dignity you have left.
Our Secretary of State in Ca, Debra Bower, is just awesome. She had that Repub guy arrested. Nobody messes with the vote on her watch.
That is odd. The Diebold machine and its clandestine flipping operations ensured that the voter never had any idea which way his vote ended up.
This has been brought up here in WV quite a bit — but the GOP secretary of State keeps poo-pooing the idea that there might be a problem. SIGH
heh, Hommer ‘08!
I have question about verification of paper ballots. Is it allowed to make a identifying mark, such as a “signature”. A digital picture could be made. Or a an actual hard copy could be given to the voter.
Obviously, all these electronic systems could be undermined if neo-cons simply shut off electrical power. I do not care if my vote is not secret because Total Information Awareness already has got me in the Main Core data base.
per Bloomberg:
SouthernDragon has written a diary on how a voting machine is rigged over at Oxdown
A key to how this election plays out over the next two weeks will be if the media goes with the transformational/post-racial or comeback narrative.
The voter fraud and tech problems will only come into play if the comeback narrative is emphasized. An election has to be within a point or so for those things to have a meaningful impact.
OT – Palin finally giving interviews (not funny) http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/467139.aspx
Is she giving interviews to anyone that isn’t on a leash?
Gotta go read that. brb.
No. This has been another edition of…
How is it possible to also, even. Punctuate everything also that Palin says? In a transcript.
BTW, and OT…I met a couple of very nice folks from the WV Dept of Health and Human Services last week at my company’s annual IT Symposium. Great folks….I let them know one of my favorite bloggers was from WV. :-)
Here’s an op-ed from the AJC
HERE is an article where State Senator Eric Johnson talks about voter fraud and early voting. Two key quotes:
and
There is no leash. Palin is in her element. It is “news” for her targeted audience. Here is another: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/467138.aspx
We were told, at a Dem meeting in TX this weekend, that cameras, including phone cameras, are illegal within several hundred feet of voting areas. I guess the idea is that some voters could be intimidated by being photographed while voting. I don’t really have a problem with that.
Yes!
Like the line from Jaws…We need a bigger
boatjail.Let me add my own little prayer:
Please, Lord, do not allow this woman anywhere near the Oval Office, now and forever, amen.
Very cool — I did a lot of work with folks from DHHR when I was working on abuse and neglect cases. Some of the hardest working, most underpaid and underthanked folks on the planet.
The only shenanigans i’ve heard about in our CD thus far was the possibility of poll watchers turning away voters with campaign shirts/buttons.
Thanks, mucho!
Anti-depressant therapy would be my guess.
Here t-shirts or buttons with campaign logos on them would run afoul of the “no electioneering” statutes on the books. But that’s been true for a long, long time, so folks know not to do that when they vote (or should anyway). A lot of states enforce that sort of thing sporadically depending on the polling place — and that can get really confusing.
nope. it was christian braidcasting network. is she scheduled for more?
There are laws that do not allow campaigning within 100 feet of a polling place. We are advised to ask them to turn shirts inside out.
voters can wear them, no? i know they can here. first prez election here but i’m told that doesn’t stop poll workers from telling voters they can’t do it.
Per Yahoo: Powell will have an advisory position in Obama admin.
yeah. they can wear stuff here but we were told the same thing. don’t make an issue of it. just make sure the person votes.
U Going to the Rally?
We were advised this weekend, that some calls were being made in some parts of Texas which pretended to be Democratic calls, and advised voters that, if they voted the straight ticket, they must also place a vote for Obama in the individual selection for president. This would, in fact, eliminate the Obama vote. This may differ by the type of voting machines in any state or precinct, but it might be something to get clarification on before voting. I don’t think I’ve ever done it, but my wife thought she had previously voted the straight ticket and marked each slot.
Hey Beerfart. Here’s a link to a need for people in Florida to make phone calls to undecided voters.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/callwomen/
I don’t have the funds to make a lot of long distance calls from my house, but the woman who sent me the link has a little more dough than me. I might drive over to her house and use her phone.
I think the same is true here. Thankfully the polling place is not far from campus so most students running afoul of the that rule don’t have far to travel for a change (pun intended.)
fyi – bernanke to testify before house budge committee. just starting now on cspan. (details at oxdown)
There is HOPE for the future.
Way to go UNC-W!
I hope he talks about the $70 billion in wall street bonuses just announced.
Do you know if that’s been reported to the 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline. If not, would your wife be willing to report it so they can try and track down potential problems there?
Jane’s new post at Silo is entitled: “What is John McCain Hiding About His Health?”
I’m sure it has. The lady who advised us of it is a Democratic Candidate for the state school board, the former chairperson of the county Dem. party, the person who briefed us on poll watching and what to do if we witnessed problems.
P.S.: I meant my wife thought she had in prevous elections. We haven’t voted yet this time.
The electronic voting machine companies say that the computer programs that run the machines are proprietary, and cannot be revealed. I don’t see why that’s so. We know these things are easy to hack. Just look at SouthernDragon’s diary.
We want to know that the computer coding is correct, and the only way to do that is to make it publicly available. There is no inherent issue with coding as proprietary. Any college kid could produce the code as a classroom exercise. I’d say what we need to do is produce a standard program that will run on any machine. That way we would be able to trust the code.
My thoughts exactly. Post it happening on YouTube.
I wonder how long it’d take before they start searching people for Flip camcorders before they enter the voting booth?
This is why I think it would behoove Obama to have his legal eagles out and active BEFORE the actual election rather than be ready to respond when it is too late: after the election.
This nonsense needs to be quashed IMMEDIATELY and all votes cast on the suspect machines erased and the voters allowed a shot at voting AGAIN on an untainted machine, or better yet, on a piece of paper where there is no way to mistake who is being voted for.
This even goes to bogus ballot designs such as in NC. In NC you have the common option of selecting “straight party vote”, however, they throw in a tricky part: if you do select straight party vote, it doesn’t count for the Presidential. You actually have to go in and vote for one or the other of the Presidential candidates. How many early NC voters have been screwed/confused by this bogus ballot trickery? How many voted straight party thinking they were voting for Obama too when, in fact, they are being counted as a NON-vote for President?
Then there is bullcrap such as in Texas where you can select straight party vote but if you also go in and select Obama (or whomever) your ballot is rejected. They write rules so idiotic and so locked down that obvious votes for someone are tossed for bogus cosmetic reasons.
There really needs to be universal rules for ballot design and for vote counting that doesn’t toss out perfectly good ballots that show clear intent. The only ballots that should ever be discarded/rejected are those that are self-contradictory.
Bradblog reported in 2007 a virus causing this behavior in iVotronic DREs with certain firmware versions: 16 States Affected by Newly Discovered ES&S iVotronic Touch-Screen Voting System Virus Vulnerability. WV counties are gradually shifting to this brand of DRE.
There is a big push to do this, although you have to be aware of the laws in your state. I’m going to be reporting for the PBS/YouTube/GroundReport videography project.
I may post this upstairs rather than be EPU’d here because I’m late to the thread, but it relates to this topic.
Go watch Dan Rather Reports about the 2000 election, the bad paper ballots and the miscalibrated touch screen machines. Well worth the hour.
The Trouble with Touch Screens
If people recall there were reports in the 2004 election of people trying to vote for the Democrat and the machines changing the vote to the Republican.
We were told that it was simple calibration error. But if this were true wouldn’t there also be cases of people trying to vote for the Republican and having the machine switch the vote to the Democrat?
If these were merely calibration errors wouldn’t the errors affect each party the same way? When errors always favor the same side only a fool would believe the machines weren’t programmed to do exactly what they’re doing…
It’s like when you owe somebody money and there are constant errors that are always in the other person’s favor; those aren’t errors either.
The Homer Simpson voting clip is still available.
I understand we have this sacrosanct state sovereignty thing going where every state is supposed to be allowed to determine who votes and how. The chance to fix that vanished with Reconstruction when no one had the good sense or balls to say, “Hey, you can determine who votes and how for your state offices but for federal elections, these are the rules, this is who votes, and this is how it will be done. Y’all lost the war, you don’t get to tell us how the system is going to work.”
Why is is so hard to vote in this country? Europe and most of the rest of the world votes on Sunday so everyone can vote. Proportional representation would be nice here but barring that individual runoff balloting would be appreciated.
The very fact that HAVA was pushed through by the feds makes a joke of any argument that the federal government cannot dictate to the states how elections should be conducted.
No more machines. Paper ballots with a verifiable paper trail in case recounts are necessary. After what we’ve been through I’m certain enough people can be importuned to serve as vote counters and I doubt it would be that hard.
We’ve had a close call with totalitarianism in this country if you take a close look at executive orders, NSPDs, HSDs, and the signing statements of the man who would be king. People are more than willing and eager to secure our democracy from the forces of GOP darkness.
Good luck down there, Christy.
my thought, go back to paper ballots and poll watchers from each party present while voting is going on. Collect the boxes-locked and sealed to prevent tampering- from each precinct and move them to a county seat where representatives from each party on the ballot observe the physical vote count. When the count is finished all the representatives each verify that the count is correct, then forward the count to the state, which in turn, with representatives from each party on the ballot present will verify the state totals and only then forward the state total to WaDC where once more, representatives from each party on the national ballot will observe and verify the final count. TV (like C-span) to be watching each step so we have total transparency. It is slow but each step will be verified by all parties as being correct so ballot box stuffing and other kinds of voter fraud will not take place. So what if it takes more than 1-2 weeks. The electoral college does not vote until several weeks after Nov 4(and dispite it not happening, each elector can vote his conscience, not necessarily what the voters want). What would stop this? The instant gratification society that we now inhabit. (and an MSM that tells us who the winners are with 1-2% of the votes cast, based on exit polls) I have seen this system work in both Japan and Korea(back in the day, before 1980)but even then Tokyo and seoul were among the biggest cities in the world.
This is the fairest way that I can think of, what say you?
What I find most “interesting” about this report and similar reports of vote reversals is that I never see any reports of Republican votes being switched to Democrat. It’s always the votes for Democrats that are recorded wrong. What a coincidence.