If I missed this, a LOT of people missed it. This is probably the worst concrete news I've heard about electronic voting. It's (frighteningly) reminiscent of the voting-joke website where the box for Bush has an on-again-off-again check mark that counts and every attempt to click in the Kerry space caused the Kerry space to jump to a different part of the screen:
http://wearabledissent.com/101/floridaballot.html
This is real...
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Urgent warning to voters using touch screen / DRE voting machines
Voters urged to double-check the summary screen before casting ballot
by Bob Kibrick
October 23rd, 2004
https://vevo.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=5185
Early voting began the week of October 18 in many states. Our
Election Incident Reporting System (EIRS) has already received
numerous complaints from across the country of touch screen/DRE
voting machines failing to properly register voters' selections.
Because of these problems, it is absolutely vital that voters
double-check the selections listed on the final "summary", "proof",
or "review" screen prior to casting their votes. If the selections
listed on that screen are not what the voter intended, then the voter
must page back through ballot and make any needed corrections prior
to casting their ballot.
Many of these reports came from voters using ES&S iVotronic touch
screen voting machines in Florida and Texas. These voters reported
that the iVotronic touch screens registered selections for candidates
that the voters had not intended to select. If voters rest their
hands or thumbs on or near the edge of the touch screen, then the
voting machine can register a selection where none was intended.
This design flaw was identified weeks ago by Professor Doug Jones of
the Univerity of Iowa Computer Science Department and noted in
section 11 of his pre-election testing report submitted to elections
officials in Florida's Miami Dade County. Dr. Jones is a member of
the Iowa Board of Examiners for Voting Machines and Electronic Voting
Systems and he also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Verified
Voting Foundation.
This problem was also reported in the October 18 edition of the San
Antonio Business Journal in an article entitled "You touch it, you
voted for it". That article reads in part:
A potential user-interface problem has surfaced with the touch-screen
voting machines being used during early voting in San Antonio. The
problem also could affect voters nationwide.
Bexar County Elections Administrator Clifford Borofsky confirms that
the problem is real, but he insists it is a minor issue.
A San Antonio Business Journal reader brought the problem to the
attention of the newspaper after he claims his vote was registered
for the wrong candidate. He said the bad vote was cast because he
inadvertently rested his hand on the screen of the voting kiosk while
using his other hand to vote.
"The machine registered the vote from my thumb when I rested my hand
on the screen to vote," the reader claims.
The reader says he caught his error on the review screen before
finalizing his vote, but he questions whether everyone -- especially
new voters -- would do the same.
Borofsky says his office has received only two reports in 60,000
votes cast of votes being registered by individuals inadvertently
resting their hand on the voting screen. However, there is no way to
know how many people made the mistake without knowing it.
"That's what the review screen is for," Borofsky says, adding that it
is the fail-safe built into the system to guard against inadvertent
votes.
However, Borofsky does concede that it would be good to make voters
aware of the problem, "especially people foreign to the voting
process."
Currently, there are no warning signs on the machines or in the
polling places to make voters aware of the hyper-sensitivity of the
touch-screen voting machines, he says.
Other voters in New Mexico, Texas, and Florida have reported serious
problems when attempting to select individual candidates or to vote a
straight party ticket. Many voters reported that when they attempted
to select one candidate or party, the machine instead registered a
choice for a different candidate or party. Voters reported having to
make repeated attempts to get the voting machines to finally register
their intended selection. For just one such example, see the article
Some Voters Say Machines Failed, Incorrect Choices Appear on Screens
which appeared in the October 22 edition of the Albuquerque Journal,
which reads in part:
Kim Griffith voted on Thursday- over and over and over.
She's among the people in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties who say
they have had trouble with early voting equipment. When they have
tried to vote for a particular candidate, the touch-screen system has
said they voted for somebody else.
It's a problem that can be fixed by the voters themselves- people can
alter the selections on their ballots, up to the point when they
indicate they are finished and officially cast the ballot.
For Griffith, it took a lot of altering.
She went to Valle Del Norte Community Center in Albuquerque, planning
to vote for John Kerry. "I pushed his name, but a green check mark
appeared before President Bush's name," she said.
Griffith erased the vote by touching the check mark at Bush's name.
That's how a voter can alter a touch-screen ballot.
She again tried to vote for Kerry, but the screen again said she had
voted for Bush. The third time, the screen agreed that her vote
should go to Kerry.
She faced the same problem repeatedly as she filled out the rest of
the ballot. On one item, "I had to vote five or six times," she said.
Michael Cadigan, president of the Albuquerque City Council, had a
similar experience when he voted at City Hall.
"I cast my vote for president. I voted for Kerry and a check mark for
Bush appeared," he said.
He reported the problem immediately and was shown how to alter the ballot.
Cadigan said he doesn't think he made a mistake the first time. "I
was extremely careful to accurately touch the button for my choice
for president," but the check mark appeared by the wrong name, he
said.
Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera said she doesn't believe the
touch-screen system has been making mistakes. It's the fault of
voters, she said Thursday.
Cadigan, for example, could have "leaned his palm on the touch screen
and it hit the wrong button," she said.
In Sandoval County, three Rio Rancho residents said they had a
similar problem, with opposite results. They said a touch-screen
machine switched their presidential votes from Bush to Kerry.
... Herrera said she's heard stories from Democrats and Republicans.
In some cases, when people have tried to vote a straight ticket, the
screen has given their votes to every candidate in the opposite
political party, she said.
She believes it's a people problem. "I have confidence in the
machines," she said.
"They are touch screens. People are touching them with their palms,
or leaning their hand. ... They're hitting the wrong button."
Herrera and others said voters should be diligent about reviewing
their touch-screen ballots so they can make alterations.
Griffith said she's afraid some votes will go to the wrong candidates
by accident. "People need to know that they have to be careful," she
said.
"I'm concerned that people who don't check and double-check will try
to vote for a candidate and not realize that the vote went to another
candidate," she said.
Other voters reported that when selecting a straight party ticket,
either the wrong party was selected, or the correct party was
selected but the selection of presidential candidate was wrong. In
other cases, voters reported that when selecting a straight party
ticket, they voting machine failed to present them with various
non-partisan ballot measures.
On Hart InterCivic eSlate voting machines used in Travis County,
Texas, a county Democratic party official reports that some voters
intending to vote the straight Democratic party ticket have
accidentally registered a selection for Bush/Cheney through incorrect
usage of the eSlate's "SELECT wheel" and "ENTER" buttons. The
official's explanation:
When pressing ENTER after marking Straight Democrat, some voters
inadvertently turned the SELECT wheel one click through the ballot while
meaning to go to the final "PROOF" page. If you hit ENTER at that point,
your cursor is over the first candidate on the ballot: Bush/Cheney.
So, the answer to this problem is this: TELL EVERYONE TO PROOF THEIR
BALLOT. If there is an error, page back and fix it and/or ask for
assistance in doing so. You must fix these things BEFORE you hit CAST
BALLOT.
_ ____
Also this, unverified but worth adding to the "stay alert" materials...
From: Moyers, Bill
Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2004 12:58 PM
To: PubAffTV
Subject: From a good friend of mine of many years.
Yesterday a friend voted early at a polling location in Austin. She voted
straight Democratic. When she did the final check, lo and behold every vote
was for the Democratic candidates except that it showed she had voted for
Bush/Cheney for president/vice pres.
She immediately got a poll official. On her vote, it was corrected. She
called the Travis County Democratic headquarters. They took all her
information, and told her that she wasn't the first to report a similar
incident and that they are looking into it.
So check before you leave the polling booth, and if anything is wrong, get
it corrected immediately. Report any irregularities to your local Democratic
headquarters.
Make sure you pass this along to your friends ... hopefully this is all over
the airwaves by tomorrow ...
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