Voting Irregularity Tracking Thread - Volunteers Needed

[2ndamendsis]

election 2006
Dems to request voting be extended
By George Merritt
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:11/07/2006 11:37:55 AM MST

A long line waits outside Washington Park Recreation Center in Denver on Nov. 7, 2006. (Post / Lyn Alweis)

Democratic party leaders are planning to seek a two-hour extension for voting in Denver, due to massive computer problems which have created long lines, and kept many from casting their vote.

Party spokesman Brian Mason said a motion is being prepared, in response to "the huge problems in Denver this morning."

The problems began right at 7 a.m. as computer problems at the voter-check in stations bogged down, creating a bottleneck in the first hour of voting as a rush to the polls overloaded the system.

Shortly after 8 a.m., election judges reported better service and lines began moving.

Mark Coles, a computer technician with the Denver Election Commission, said the election system had to be split onto three
Voting Lines

To see estimated wait times at Denver voting centers click here.
separate servers to handle the backlog.

"It's just like traffic on (Interstate) 25," Coles said. "It's as if we are building two more I-25s right next to it" to ease the traffic congestion.

But the fix did not come in time to help some voters who hoped to vote before heading to work.

At Denver Botanic Gardens, more than 200 voters backed up in a line that stretched out of the gates and down the block more than half way to 11th Avenue.

"We will not get to vote today," said a frustrated Lauren Brockman as he left the Botanic Gardens.

He lined up at 6:45 a.m. hoping to beat the rush, only to stand in line for close to an hour before leaving.

But an hour wait was short, compared to some.

At Corona Presbyterian Church, voters were being told to expect about a two-hour wait as they snaked around the building.

"All my friends, I told them to vote between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.," said Rob Weil the election judge supervisor at Corona. "But if it keeps being this slow, this line will stay."

Several people left the line at Park Hill Methodist Church after they were told equipment was broken. But shortly after that, the line was moving
Charles Rawlins of Nederland reads over his ballot while waiting in line to cast his vote on Nov. 7, 2006. Election officials estimated it was taking people about 50 mins to get through the entire process of voting at precinct 1560. (Post / Helen H. Richardson)
again.

Despite the early trouble, election commission spokesman Alton Dillard said lines were running smoothly by 9 a.m.

"Everything is back up and running," he said. "If a voter goes somewhere with a long line, all they have to do is check in with an election official and see where there is a vote center with less traffic."

Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4616285

discussion at ALIPAC here:
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=45922

.

[2ndamendsis]

Prank watch
By Michelle Malkin · November 07, 2006 01:50 PM

The FBI is investigating hacking incidents involving Michigan GOP Sen. candidate Michael Bouchard's Web site. They've traced the mischief to Maryland. An earlier incident involving the site was reportedly linked to interest in Bouchard's daughter, whatever that means. The Bouchard campaign has posted the IP addresses here.

Any other examples of cyber-funny business? Let me know.
http://michellemalkin.com/

[AmericanElizabeth]

So far Oregon is quiet, we use vote by mail, and all seems to be going ok, so far. We drop ours off at the local library, and I have confidence that there is no problems here. If there is, I will post it here.

I'm really curious about the illegal white out thing William, where did you say you heard this happening? I'm going to check out the web to see if it is so, and dig up the article.

[loservillelabor]

Voting Problem Pops Up In West Hartford

POSTED: 7:58 am EST November 7, 2006
UPDATED: 11:03 am EST November 7, 2006

Email This Story | Print This Story

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Less than one hour after voting started, it was stopped at one West Hartford polling place.

Voting was stopped temporarily at St. James' Church on Farmington Avenue after it was discovered that a wrong name was on the ballot for state representative in the 19th District.

Officials are bringing in new machines.


At least 29 people cast ballots Tuesday morning on the machines with the wrong name. Those machines are now locked down and will remain out of use until the close of voting.

NBC 30's Susan Goodman reported that new paper ballots had arrived about 7 a.m. and at least one voting machine was being used.

http://www.nbc30.com/politics/10262321/detail.html

[loservillelabor]

Ballot problem delays voting 90 minutes in Deerfield Beach

BY SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN
sdegnan@MiamiHerald.com

Dozens of voters who came to the Deerfield Beach Tower Club Teen Center to cast their votes this morning walked away angry, as 10 of 14 voting booths failed to work -- all of them for voters in Precinct 23A.

''I have two words for them -- paper ballots!'' said election volunteer John Miller, 78, who said he has worked at area elections the past 10 years. ``I come from New England, and they're still using paper ballots. They have no problems.''

Only three people had voted when all 14 machines stopped working. After about 45 minutes, voters in Precinct 26A were able to cast ballots on four machines. But most voters, those in Precinct 23A, were out of luck until about 8:30 a.m., when technicians were able to get at least some machines back online.

In the meantime, many would-be voters left, livid.

The problem, according to Broward Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman Mary Cooney, was a voting system technician who activated machines at one precinct with the cartridge for the other. Both precincts are housed at the teen center.

The mistake caused the machines to shut down. ''He did plenty of damage,'' Cooney said.

''Once in two years voting comes, and on that day the voting machines break down,'' said Pervaiz Abdullah, 45, the manager of a Subway shop in Wellington. ``It's ridiculous, there's no option for me to come back another time or day. I was supposed to be in at 9 a.m.. and now I can't make it until 10:30.''

Voting experts say scattered Election Day glitches are not uncommon, regardless of the type of system being used.

Elections officials resolved the Deerfield Beach problem by bringing in new voting machines and new cartridges. The technician also was replaced.

Robert Walker, 36, a project manager for a communications contracting company, got to the polling place just after it opened. When he saw the problem, he immediately called Snipes' office to ask for help.

''This is completely, completely unacceptable,'' Walker said. 'The woman before me in line said, `OK, I'm screwed now. I work in Fort Lauderdale until 9 p.m. I can't come back.' She left.''

One police officer, Richard Fortunato, ''from a town in Broward County,'' was being very polite but said he didn't know if he could hold out. ''I worked 16 hours yesterday, and I have to be back for another double shift at 2 p.m. today,'' Fortunato said. ``I'm very tired. We'll see what happens.''

Cooney was matter-of-fact. ''They are voting now,'' she said. ``It took a lot longer to resolve than we would have liked.''

Outside the polling place, Cliff Germano, a training director for a local union who was there on behalf of the Florida AFL-CIO, handed out sheets with voting information. He watched people marching in happy and marching out angry.

''The last couple of elections you heard all the horror stories -- people turned away, machines not working,'' Germano said. ``You would have thought they would have fixed those problems by now.''

Miami Herald staff writer Trenton Daniel contributed to this report.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/ne ... 950720.htm

[JAK]

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4616952

Glitches hit other states
By Anick Jesdanun
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated:11/07/2006 12:02:19 PM MST


President Bush walks with first lady Laura Bush, preparing to board Air Force One in Waco, Texas after casting their votes. (AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais)Programming errors and inexperience dealing with electronic voting machines frustrated poll workers in hundreds of precincts today, delaying voters in several states and leaving some with little choice but to use paper ballots instead.

In Cleveland, voters rolled their eyes as election workers fumbled with new touchscreen machines that they couldn't get to start properly until about 10 minutes after polls opened.

"We got five machines - one of them's got to work," said Willette Scullank, a trouble shooter from the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, elections board.

In Indiana's Marion County, about 175 of 914 precincts turned to paper because poll workers didn't know how to run the machines, said Marion County Clerk Doris Ann Sadler. She said it could take most of the day to fix all of the machine-related issues.

Election officials in Delaware County, Ind., extended voting hours because voters initially couldn't cast ballots in 75 precincts. County Clerk Karen Wenger said the cards that activate the push-button machines were programmed incorrectly but the problems were fixed by late morning.

Pennsylvania's Lebanon County also extended polling hours because a programming error forced some voters to cast paper ballots.

With a third of Americans voting on new equipment and voters navigating new registration databases and changing ID rules, election watchdogs worried about polling problems even before the voting began.

"This is largely what I expected," said Doug Chapin, director of Electionline.org, a nonpartisan group that tracks voting changes. "With as much change as we had, expecting things to go absolutely smoothly at the beginning of the day is too optimistic." At some Broward County, Fla., precincts, electronic ballots were mixed up and, in one case, a poll worker unintentionally wiped the electronic ballot activators.

In Utah County, Utah, workers failed to properly encode some of the cards that voters use to bring up touchscreen ballots.

Rep. Harold Ford, the Democratic Senate candidate in Tennessee, claimed a polling place in Jackson shut down because its machines weren't working, but Tennessee election coordinator Brook Thompson said he knew only of typical election morning problems starting machines.

In Illinois, some voters found the new equipment cumbersome.

"People seem to be very confused about how to use the new system," said Bryan Blank, a 33-year-old librarian from Oak Park, Ill. "There was some early morning disarray." But voting equipment companies said they hadn't seen anything beyond the norm and blamed the problems largely on human error.

[loservillelabor]

Tuesday, November 07, 2006
UPDATE: Voting machine glitch causes big delays, county says problem fixed
Daily Herald

Encoder problems at most, if not all, of the 118 voting stations left early morning voters standing in line for more than an hour waiting to cast their electronic ballots.

There were problems with the encoders at most, if not all, of the polls in Utah County, said Sandy Hoffmann, elections coordinator for Utah County, but all of the problems have been remedied.

Hoffmann said there was no indication that there would be any problems with the encoders. To fix the glitch, Hoffmann said one of the electronic voting machines at each polling location was taken out of sequence and turned into a large encoder.

"The encoder is the little device that programs the voter card," said Joe Demma, spokesman for Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert.

Taking one machine out of sequence should not impact voting too much. The number of machines vary by location, with 15 at the most and three at the least, Hoffmann said.

The problem was first realized when polls opened at 7 a.m., leaving many voters standing in lines for hours.

"It should not have and adverse affect on anything," Demma said, adding he anticipates a good voter turn out in the county.

Voters aren't as confident.

Longtime Provo resident Lynn Howard said he waited in a long line of "very dissatisfied" people for over an hour at Timpview High School before leaving without voting.

"The man in front of me said he would not come back to vote today," Howard said. "I'm going to try it again."

Precinct judges wrote in "no ballot" next to his name on the voting list, he said, and he hopes that when he goes back later today there won't be a problem.

Voting hours, by law, cannot be changed to accommodate any problems that polling places may have, Hoffmann said. The hours remain from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"I'm assuming all the locations are up and running," Hoffmann said shortly before 9:30 a.m.

If people were unable to vote early this morning, Hoffmann said she encourages voters to go back to the polls before 8 p.m., adding there should not be any additional problems with the voting machines.

"Everybody is good for the rest of the day," she said.

Howard had a chance to use the machines in the June primary and said they worked fine.

"I hope a lot of people don't not end up voting because of it," he said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/199102/3/

[2ndamendsis]

Virginia Intimidation:Voter Threatened With Criminal Charges In Recorded Phone Message

November 07, 2006 1:35 PM

ABC News' Jason Ryan Reports: The Virginia Board of Elections has confirmed to ABC News that the FBI is looking into claims of voter intimidation and polling place misdirection surrounding the bruising Senate race there.

ABC News has obtained an audio wave file of a phone message left for resident and registered Virginia voter Tim Daly in which the caller claims to be from the Virginia Bd of Elections and informs Daly that he is not registered in VA and that if he shows up at the polls to vote he would be criminally prosecuted.

The James Webb Senate campaign is claiming that voters are being misdirected to the wrong polling stations.

GOP state spokesman Shawn Smith told ABC News that the Virginia GOP and the Friends of George Allen committee "are only engaging in activities encouraging supporters to vote." He said was skeptical of the claims being made but said he would nonetheless condemn such activities if they are being conducted by outside organizations.

On a bright note, Board of Elections analyst Clay Landa reports to the AP that turnout could reach 65% and there have been no reported problems with touch screen voting
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar ... ntimi.html

[2ndamendsis]

BREAKING: Massive Meltdown in Pennsylvania

By Erick Posted in 2006 — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

RedState is getting widespread reports of an electoral nightmare shaping up in Pennsylvania with certain types of electronic voting machines.

In some counties, machines are crashing. In other counties, we have enough reports to treat as credible that fact that some Rendell votes are being tabulated by the machines for Swann and vice versa. The same is happening with Santorum and Casey. Reports have been filed with the Pennsylvania Secretary of State, but nothing has happened.
http://www.redstate.com/stories/electio ... nsylvanian

[CCUSA]

http://blogs.chron.com/kuffsworld/2006/ ... in_fo.html

November 07, 2006
Voting problems reported in Fort Bend this morning
Anybody out there experience something like this?




In Fort Bend County, where there is a contentious battle for the Congressional seat vacated earlier this year by former Rep. Tom DeLay, poll workers discovered that electronic machines had been switched in at least two precincts, delaying voters and casting some uncertainty on ballots already cast.

Voting had already been under way for at least 45 minutes at Oak Lake Baptist Church in Sugar Land, when it was learned the the machines were labeled for Lexington Creek Elementary School in Missouri City.

Gwen Ross, the election judge there, closed down the voting for almost an hour to resolve the confusion. All but one of the 20 voters in line, waited it out. The man who left said he would come back after a poll worker took his phone number to alert him when the problem was fixed.

Tallies show that 64 people voted before the mistake had been discovered. Ross kept their names and votes on a separate tally sheet because she was unsure whether the ballot was different for the other precinct.

Ellen Hunt, a poll watcher for the Nick Lampson campaign, said she saw at least a couple other people leave from the back of the line, but praised Ross for her handling of the situation.




According to a press release I received from the Lampson campaign, the situation wasn't as well handled as this story suggests:


Even prior to 8 am, there were already problems at the Oak Lake Baptist Church polling location in Ft. Bend County, which serves precinct 4126. The E-Slate machines were not working, and voters were turned away from the polls. This precinct is a targeted precinct for the Lampson Campaign and Democrats this year. The disenfranchisement of these voters may well bring on legal action from the Lampson Campaign and/or the Democratic Party.

"This is inexcusable and puts the integrity of this entire election in question," said Lampson campaign manager Mike Malaise. "It is inappropriate, if not illegal, for poll workers to turn voters away from the polls. The Justice Department and the Secretary of State already have people in Ft. Bend County and we will be alerting them. These voters have been turned away from the polls and disenfranchised. We absolutely will not let that stand."

Voters at the Oak Lake Baptist Church polling place in Ft. Bend County were turned away from the polls this morning and were told the voting machines did not work. They were simply told they could not vote at that time. The early hours are traditionally a heavy voting period for people on their way to work. This particular voting site was a Democratic target precinct this year, and the fact that machines in this location did not work is highly suspect. The Lampson campaign will be alerting the Justice Department and Secretary of State, which already has staff in the county.

"If voters were disenfranchised," Malaise continued, "we will definitely not let that stand. It is amazing that after allowing one candidate to campaign at two polling places during early voting, that county officials have been unable or unwilling to ensure that e-slate machines are working in Democratic-targeted precincts."




I certainly hope no one was told that they could not vote. Once again, I consider this an argument in favor of early voting. Most Election Day precinct locations don't have more than a couple of eSlate machines, meaning that a failure of even one machine can be catastrophic. Early voting locations have enough eSlates to handle a couple of outages. I believe that in the long run, doing Election Day voting at a smaller number of voting centers where anyone in that county can go to cast a vote, is the way to go. Stuff like this just reinforces that view for me.

Posted by Charles Kuffner at November 7, 2006 11:49 AM