Voter reports problem with ballot machine

Man said he voted straight-party ticket and got opposite results
October 23, 2010 4:00 PM

P. Christine Smith
Sun Journal Staff

A Craven County voter says he had a near miss at the polls on Thursday when an electronic voting machine completed his straight-party ticket for the opposite of what he intended.

Sam Laughinghouse of New Bern said he pushed the button to vote Republican in all races, but the voting machine screen displayed a ballot with all Democrats checked. He cleared the screen and tried again with the same result, he said. Then he asked for and received help from election staff.

“They pushed it twice and the same thing happened,â€