Experts Concerned as Ballot Problems Defy an Overhaul

[cal04]

After six years of technological research, more than $4 billion spent by Washington on new machinery and a widespread overhaul of the nation’s voting system, this month’s midterm election revealed that the country is still far from able to ensure that every vote counts.

Tens of thousands of voters, scattered across more than 25 states, encountered serious problems at the polls, including failures in sophisticated new voting machines and confusion over new identification rules, according to interviews with election experts and officials.

In many places, the difficulties led to shortages of substitute paper ballots and long lines that caused many voters to leave without casting ballots. Still, an association of top state election officials concluded that for the most part, voting went as smoothly as expected.

Over the last three weeks, attention has been focused on a few close races affected by voting problems, including those in Florida and Ohio where counting dragged on for days. But because most of this year’s races were not close, election experts say voting problems may actually have been wider than initially estimated, with many malfunctions simply overlooked.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/us/politics/26vote.html?hp&ex=1164517200&en=dc3b865295470398&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[philb]

1. The problems affected millions of votes, not tens of thousands- see EIRS & VU reports

It is not likely that the federal Gov't or those in positions of power made serious attempts to develop a fair, reliable, and transparent election system- which is what is needed. If they did its clear that those responsible were grossly incompetant, as the decisions that were made were known and warned by experts and those with experience to clearly be not a move in a desired direction- but to make the system easier to manipulate, less reliable, more expensive to operatre, and less transparent.

[Peace Patriot]

2. Why do they never address the heart of the matter--BUSHITE corporations

taking over our election system with TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code in all the shiny new, notoriously insecure and insider hackable voting machines and central tabulators, in a coup engineered by the biggest crooks in the Anthrax Congress, Tom Delay and Bob Ney, abetted by corporatist 'Democrats' like Christopher Dodd? Iron Curtain over that.

And why do they keep sticking in bullshit lines by the stupid, corrupt members of "associations of top state election officials." Who cares what they think? Bought. And. Paid for.

And what about the huge voter BOYCOTT of the machines, by means of Absentee Ballot voting, in the recent midterms? Ordinary people trying to find a way around the rigged electronics. I tend to think that that was the opening shot of American Revolution II. Fuck with the American people any more and the Corporate Rulers are going to see their corporate charters pulled, and their assets seized for the common good.

And Diebold, ES&S and the NYT will be at the top of the list.

[Wilms]

3. Doug Chapin had to reconsider, I see.

"People can be confident of the outcome," said Doug Chapin of non-partisan electionline.org, which monitors polling problems and had warned of possible computer glitches. "Things went well."

LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER/AP Nov. 09, 2006

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/politics/15966615.htm

“If the success of an election is to be measured according to whether each voter’s voice is heard, then we would have to conclude that this past election was not entirely a success,” said Doug Chapin, director of Electionline.org, a nonpartisan election group that plans to release a report Wednesday with a state-by-state assessment of voting. “In places where the margin of victory was bigger than the margin of error, we looked away from the problems, but in 2008 we might not have that luxury.”

New York Times November 26, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/us/politics/26vote.html?hp&ex=1164517200&en=dc3b865295470398&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[FogerRox]

4. Proud to be the 5th.

[Fly by night]

5. "... an association of top state election officials ..." organized by R. Doug Lewis, ...

... the biggest (literally and figuratively) supporter of vapor-based voting in the country. Why don't we ask the NYT to investigate the vested interests of these "associations", including Doug's Election Center, bought and paid for by the voting machine companies.

Doug has gotten mighty rich pushing this swill. I think it's getting time to eat the rich. I'll go warm up the barbeque pit.