By GottaLaff
The justices unanimously disagreed on that legal point and in a 5-2 vote upheld a provision banning the screens and establishing procedures for paper ballot voting. [...]Now about the rest of the country and those Diebold machines....
“It has a huge precedential value because it confirms the power of the people at the local level to ensure the accuracy of elections,” [Thomas D. Shults, a lawyer for the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections] said.
By GottaLaff
Thom Hartmann is listing problems on his show, and here are some that CBS is reporting:
As of right now, one national voter protection group says it has received 27,000 reports of problems.
- In Virginia, problems at polling places have been reported from over ten locations all across the state, including Richmond, Portsmouth, Lynchburg, Chesapeake, Vienna, Newport News and Virginia Beach, according to voter protection groups. The most common complaints are about long lines. However, problems with voter registration and polling machines not functioning properly in several locations has also been reported. Some voters are reporting there have been no offers of paper ballots. And even as of 7am, Some polling places were not open.
- Rain in some areas of the state have been causing problems with the optical scanners because of wet ballots.I'll keep my eyes open for more.
- In Pennsylvania, Bethlehem, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have reported a number of problems with voting machine malfunctions in, as well as major breakdowns at three precincts in Allegheny County. CBS Newshas confirmed with state officials that there have been machine malfunctions throughout the state.
- There have been reports of a few precincts in Philadelphia running out of paper ballots. People have been given provisional ballots in these cases.[...] State guidelines also dictate that these provisional ballots must be marked “emergency,” so they will be counted with the rest of the ballots today.
- The McCain/Palin campaign has sent out an email stating that Republican election board workers in at least six precincts in Philadelphia have been tossed by the Democrat judge of elections. The reason provided was that they are the “minority party.” They are seeking an injunction in court today for the improper removal of “credentialed” poll workers.
- In Ohio, voting rights groups have received reports out of Columbus that many people are experiencing problems with malfunctioning voter machines, resulting in long lines. In a few of these locations, they say, the machines are not working at all.
By GottaLaff
Florida's Palm Beach County is reporting problems at a couple of polling stations: so-called "undervotes," where machines reject ballots because voters are not filling out the second page of the ballot, a spokesman for the county Board of Elections confirmed. The page contains proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution.As I left my polling place, I thought I heard someone say, "It's jamming again." Uh-oh.The spokesman said these undervotes are legal. The scanner spits the ballot back and reminds the voter to vote on the second page, the spokesman said, adding that the voter then has the choice of voting or registering the undervote.
He said in some cases people simply forget to fill out the second page, but most voters seem to be intentionally skipping that part of the ballot.
The town of Palm Beach is also reporting minor sporadic voter machine failures, the spokesman said. A handful of machines had to be replaced.
One polling station in the county opened one hour late because of a problem with their precinct voting list.
By GottaLaff
Every little "fix" helps:
Pennsylvania must have paper ballots available for its voters if half the machines at a polling place break down, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.The state wanted paper ballots mandatory only if all the machines in a polling place failed.
"Emergency back-up paper ballots shall be used thereafter until the county board of elections is able to make the necessary repairs to the machine(s) or is able to place into operation," Judge Harvey Bartle ruled.
There will be no appeal.
Sidebar: Partial transcript (pool report) of Barack Obama on The Daily Show here.
By GottaLaff
Video the Vote went to Jackson County, WV, in response to numerous reports of machine vote flipping. The local county clerk showed us the machines in question, but the demonstration left us with serious questions, as the machine continued to malfunction even after it was calibrated.H/t: One of our Anonymi
By GottaLaff
With so much good news, I hate to go here, but...
This isn't as bad as some of the stories I've heard from callers to Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes. What's so wrong with paper ballots and pens, anyway...A caller from Beaumont, Texas reports that his mother, who he accompanied to the polls, had problems assuring the electronic touch screen machine was accurately recording her preference for Sen. Barack Obama. “She went to punch the selection for Obama and it flipped to McCain,” the caller said. “They need to do something about this. They need to separate the names. Put ‘em apart, pretty much. Side-by-side instead of stacked on top of one another. This issue needs to be addressed,” said the caller.
Carolyn Guidry, the clerk of Jefferson County where Beaumont is located, is aware of the difficulties some voters are having with the county’s electronic touch screen voting machines though she points out the number of reported incidents is small. [...]
The “touch screens are density sensitive,” explained Guidry, who added that the machines will record were pressure is applied and that may be a different spot on the screen than where a voter believes he or she has touched. “We go out immediately and re-calibrate machines that [polling workers] say they are having problems with,” Guidry said. Calibration, the process of identifying for the machine the point on the screen that is being touch, generally resolves the problem until repeated use of the machine requires another re-calibration.
But Guidry concedes that the problem pointed out by the caller from Beaumont is something that needs fixing. [...] Guidry also told CNN that Jefferson County has asked Election Systems & Software, the manufacturer of the county’s machines, to look into making that change in the next iteration of the software.
Ken Fields, a spokesman for ES&S, told CNN the company was not aware of specific situations where its machines have not performed as designed. [...]
Fields also emphasized that the company’s machines have a summary screen that allows a voter to review all of his or her selections as recorded by the machine before a ballot is actually cast. The summary screen is an “important” part of the safeguards built into ES&S machines, according to Fields. Voters “absolutely should” utilize the summary screen because it allows a voter to see “clearly how choices have been selected” on an ES&S machine before a ballot is cast, Fields said.
By GottaLaff
If there's nothing to "worry" about, I doubt if both teams would have lawyers everywhere (apparently, "worry" has become a buzz word here, but I'm using it as a catch-all; so, ahem, no worries... snerk!). Seriously, it's good to know they're on top of it:
Vigilance.With heavy voter turnout expected on Election Day, both parties are amassing thousands and thousands of lawyers to keep an eye on the polls.
Senator Barack Obama’s campaign is expected to send at least 5,000 lawyers to Florida alone. The first recruitment e-mail message the campaign sent out nationally received 6,000 responses from lawyers willing to volunteer. Meanwhile, Senator John McCain’s campaign has lined up “Lawyers for McCain” to spread out at polling places in closely contested states as advocates for the ticket.
Both campaigns plan to use the lawyers to protect their supporters at the polls, help untangle ballot problems and run to court should litigation be necessary. [...]
The role of lawyers, especially at polling places, has grown since the 2000 election. For the Obama campaign, the recruitment of lawyers began the moment it set up field offices and is part of its long-term strategy to make voting easier.Already, lawyers for Mr. Obama have been talking to county election officials and boards of election to increase the number of early voting sites, to encourage early voting and to make sure that there will be sufficient number of voting machines.
“We have a selective, but ferocious legal strategy,” said Jenny Backus, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign’s legal program. “Rather than waiting for Election Day, we’ve had lawyers working from the beginning. We’ve used them for a massive voter education program, so that people know their rights and what to do on Election Day.”
This comes on top of an effort the Democratic National Committee began after the 2000 election. The committee set up a National Lawyers Council to work on ballot issues, established a voter protection hot line and surveyed 1,300 state and local election officials to flag potential Election Day problems in advance.
So far, over 10,000 lawyers have signed up over the committee’s Web site. [...]
“Lawyers have always written checks,” Mr. Kessler said. “Now we are taking it to the next level in assuring that there will be no issues on Election Day. We are learning from the last two elections and we now have the credo ‘Never again.’ If we lose, we lose. But we don’t want it because of something that took place in the polling place.” [...]
All volunteers must undergo a training session either in person or online with the Obama campaign.
“We’re going to have lawyers at the polls and in close proximity to the court houses,” Mr. Johnson said. As an example, he said lawyers could be helpful in keeping the polls open when lines became extremely long.
The McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee declined to say how many lawyers they had enlisted. Sean Cairncross, the committee’s chief counsel, said: “We will have enough lawyers to respond to any contingency...”
Mr. Cairncross said Republican lawyers would be on the lookout for voter fraud, and would work to halt such previous stunts as having busloads of voters show up to keep polls open beyond their statutory closing time. [...]
Democrats say their lawyers have already had an impact. In Montana, a federal judge upheld a Democratic challenge to a Republican attempt to purge 6,000 voters from the rolls. And in Detroit, a court settlement was reached over allegations that Republicans were going to use home foreclosure lists to challenge voters.
By GottaLaff
Yes! Via The Brad Blog:
Finally! A lawsuit [PDF] has finally been filed today in federal District Court in Pennsylvania, against the Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth, Pedro A. Cortes and the Commissioner of the state's Election Commission, Chet Harhut, over Cortes' recent decree that paper ballots only need be given out to voters in the event that every voting machine in a precinct breaks down.That stunning decry was in opposition to PA's state law which allows election officials the discretion to give emergency paper ballots to voters if even a single machine breaks down in a precinct.
That neither Obama nor the DNC have said a word about this in the month or so since Cortes issued his decry has been maddening, and should be an outrage to voters of all parties in the Keystone State, sure to be another battleground state this November. The lawsuit was finally filed today by the state's NAACP in concert with the 866-MYVOTE1 Election Reform Network. [...]
[U]nfortunately, the suit calls very conservatively for emergency paper ballots to be given out if 50% or more of the voting machines in a precinct break down. But at least it's something...
I can't imagine why the Obama team (and the DNC) haven't done more. That part mystifies me. Especially in light of this (the quote is from their website):
"The Obama campaign has worked with the Democratic Party to build the most comprehensive voter protection program ever put in place. Volunteers and campaign staffers across the country are working to protect your rights on Election Day. We are testing voting systems, examining ballot designs, pushing to reduce lines, and expanding opportunities for early and absentee voting.If they win Pennsylvania, they win. So why aren't they more aggressive there? More here.
We have also been carefully monitoring the voter rolls — we are watching to make sure new registrants get on the rolls, and stay there."
By GottaLaff
Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".
Maybe the machines are set to coincide with Gramm-pa McCain's own flip-flops.
In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.
They also blamed voters for not being more careful.
What did the voters do? Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood said that some voters might not realize that touch-screen voting machines may take a few seconds to record their choices. If they hit the screen a second time, it cancels their vote. But how does that explain a switch?
Shelba Ketchum, a 69-year-old nurse retired from Thomas Memorial Hospital, described what happened Friday at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield.
"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.
She went on to say that nobody at the polling place knew how to fix it.
Somehow I doubt that it would make a difference. "It's already stolen."She said she caught the mistake, called over a worker in the county clerk's office and was able to correct her vote. But she worries other voters may not catch such a mistake. [...]
Virginia Matheney, one of those voters, said Friday, "When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain."
Retired factory worker Calvin Thomas of Ripley said he experienced the same problem.
"When I pushed Obama, it jumped to McCain. When I went down to governor's office and punched [Gov. Joe] Manchin, it went to the other dude.
"After I finished, my daughter voted. When she pushed Obama, it went to McCain. It happened to her the same way it happened to me," Thomas said. [...]
Wood offered this advice to voters: "The best way to solve this whole problem is that before you leave the voting booth, make sure on the review screen that everybody you want to vote for is checked."
By GottaLaff
The night of November 4th is going to be endless.New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, which follows voting issues, suggests looking at Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and swing states Colorado and Virginia.
In a report released Thursday, the center rates states on their Election Day readiness, including their plans for repairing voting machines, providing emergency paper ballots, verifying vote counts, holding post-election vote audits and reconciling the number of ballots with the number of voters.
Brennan rated Alaska, California, Minnesota, Missouri and Oregon as most ready. Florida [...] and Ohio [...] ranked in the middle.
Among the report’s warnings:
–Louisiana, Nevada, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia have no state requirement that emergency paper ballots to be available in case voting machines fail.
–Nineteen states, including Colorado, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia, use voting machines that have no voter-verifiable paper record.
–Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia need “improvement” when it comes to accounting for all the ballots and voters after the polls close.
The center warned that “voting systems will fail somewhere in the United States in one or more jurisdictions in the country. Unfortunately, we don’t know where.”
Ohio Files Appeal to Supreme Court on Voter Registration Data 16 Oct 2008 Ohio's attorney general filed an emergency appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court late Wednesday night seeking to block a lower court decision that could cost many thousands of Ohio voters a chance to cast a regular ballot Nov. 4. About 660,000 new voters have registered since January with an edge to Democrats. The filing on behalf of Ohio's Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner contends that upholding a Tuesday decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit would create havoc on Election Day and cause many voters to cast "provisional" ballots that may or may not ultimately be tallied depending on judgments by local elections boards.
By GottaLaff
Brad of The Brad Blog just now on Thom Hartmann (quick liveblog):
"Voter fraud": It's a phony scam to keep Democratic voters from casting their votes. Voter frauds have had only 21 convictions, but John Fund likes to talk about it as if it's a huge crime wave.Go to: VotersUnite.org and/or The Brad Blog for more info.
Their favorite whipping boy is ACORN, who signs up millions of voters who verify every registration that they get. They call them, and if they can't get hold of them, they flag it as possibly illegitimate and put them aside.
Election fraud: [ "Voter fraud" is being used (foreclosure lists in Michigan; or, no match/no vote in Florida, eg: if they're missing your middle initial, your name no longer matches, you can be dropped) and the campaigns are not being tough enough.] It's the voting machines that can be corrupted, and we'd never know it if they messed with them. That is election fraud. The system is gamed.
When it's inside a computer, you can't see it, so you can't stop it. Oklahoma got their optical scan machines years ago, then threw out the voting machine companies and ran them themselves. It's all publicly overseen, as opposed to privatized.
Even if you've voted in the primary, call your registrars, go online to see if you're registered. Do not assume you are registered.
.jpg)
