The Stealing of the Election 2006

Ain't freedom great? Certainly was back when we had it.

But that was then and this is now.

Goodbye, democracy, hello one party rule! All hail Our Leaders!

Debra A. Reed voted with her boss on Wednesday at African-American Research Library and Cultural Center near Fort Lauderdale. Her vote went smoothly, but boss Gary Rudolf called her over to look at what was happening on his machine. He touched the screen for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, a Democrat, but the review screen repeatedly registered the Republican, Charlie Crist.

That's exactly the kind of problem that sends conspiracy theorists into high gear -- especially in South Florida, where a history of problems at the polls have made voters particularly skittish.

A poll worker then helped Rudolf, but it took three tries to get it right, Reed said.

''I'm shocked because I really want . . . to trust that the issues with irregularities with voting machines have been resolved,'' said Reed, a paralegal. ``It worries me because the races are so close.''

Broward Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman Mary Cooney said it's not uncommon for screens on heavily used machines to slip out of sync, making votes register incorrectly. Poll workers are trained to recalibrate them on the spot -- essentially, to realign the video screen with the electronics inside. The 15-step process is outlined in the poll-workers manual.

Link.

And:

During the primary, memory cards were misplaced or lost and some poll workers were not adequately trained to operate the machines, the Associated Press reported. Approximately 18,000 absentee ballots had to be counted by hand because the machinery could not scan them, prompting a six-day delay in the final vote tally.

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In Bexar County, there have been two major recounts since the installation of the ES&S system: the Congressional District 28 race in 2004 and the County Court-at-Law No. 9 race earlier this year.

In both cases, only the paper ballots were recounted. The electronic votes were not. That's problematic for a growing number of people who argue that without a paper record of the electronically cast votes, a meaningful recount is impossible.

Some states now require a VVPAT, or voter-verified paper audit trail. This system essentially takes the electronic ballot cast by a voter and creates a paper version for a voter to verify. The paper version is then held by the state and can be used as a backup in the case of a recount.

Texas has not certified a printer system, said Scott Haywood, spokesman for Secretary of State Williams.

"We have not seen a system yet that we feel comfortable certifying," Haywood said. He noted that some of the printer systems have issues with standards, ballot secrecy and accessibility.

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In Cuyahoga County, a study done by the Election Science Institute found that problems with the attached printers and poll worker training on how to operate the printers had an impact on election day.
In addition, jurisdictions would have to take up the sticky issue of authenticity. If an electronic vote count and a paper ballot vote count differ, which one is the "real" result?

Link.