Cleveland's election system gets another black eye

[sabra]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/politics/14518094.htm

Cleveland's election system gets another black eye
Associated Press

CLEVELAND - The state that decided the 2004 presidential election already was under scrutiny before its largest county held up the statewide primary tally with election workers who were unfamiliar with new machines and looking for lost votes.

...

Most of the problems in the Cuyahoga County, which has had numerous election mishaps before, can be attributed to mistakes by the 7,500 poll workers hired only for election-day work, county elections director Michael Vu said. "We knew that we were going to be overwhelmed."

...

James Lee, spokesman for Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's chief elections officer and a Republican nominated for governor on Tuesday, said Cuyahoga County was the exception to a mostly smooth electronic voting across the state.

...

"It's just intuitive, when you work with something you will feel more comfortable," said Diebold spokesman David Bear. "The machines worked properly."

[AndyTiedye]

1. The Machinez Did What They Were Programmed to Do. Elect Blackwell

[partylessinOhio]

2. Is it soup yet? No!

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

** ADDITIONAL ABSENTEE TOTALS WILL BE ADDED AT A LATER TIME


IMPORTANT BULLETINS FROM
THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS

* Absentee ballots are not included on the unofficial election results website. These ballots will be reflected in the official results. Please call the Board of Elections at 216-443-3200 for further clarification.

Last update from Board of Elections was Friday, May 05, 2006 at 2:49:01 PM
Total Precincts: 1435 Total Precincts Reported: 1435

[Sadie5]

3. Cuyahoga County was the exception

Thats because all of Blackwell's crooks and thugs live in this county.

[BeFree]

4. What?

Are yall telling me that after 3.8 BILLION dollars spent on what was supposed to be fast vote counter computers, they still haven't finished counting votes from last Tuesday?

Any more money thrown down that hole is a crime. Not only can the machines not be trusted, they can't deliver the count in good time.

If you had bought a computer that screwed up as much as these machines, you'd be asking for, and getting, your money back.

At the very least if government really cared they'd be demanding the 3.8 BILLION dollars would deliver machines as close to perfect as possible.

Instead, it's throwing money and our votes into blackwell's hole. That's what is wrong with America.

[partylessinOhio]

5. That is correct. Although they promised the count would be complete

this morning, the totals still do not include the absentee ballots that had to be hand counted.

It is anybody's guess when the count will be finished.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

The Ohio secretary of state's office has ordered the board to investigate its "pre-election activities." In addition, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell said he would send a team to Cuyahoga County to investigate.

Undecided races
Saturday, May 06, 2006

There are 51 election races and voter issues that remain undecided today as the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections continues its handcounting of 18,000 absentee ballots.

- Congress 10th District Republican primary

- Congress 13th District Democratic and Republican races

- Congress 14th District Democratic primary

- Ohio 21st Senate District Democratic and Republican primaries

- Ohio 23rd Senate District Democratic primary

- Ohio 8th House District Democratic primary

- Ohio 9th House District Democratic primary

- Ohio 10th House District Democratic primary

- Ohio 11th House District Democratic primary

- Ohio 13th House District Democratic primary

- Ohio 14th House District Democratic primary

- Ohio 18th House District Democratic primary

- Ohio 8th District Appeals Court term beginning Feb. 9, Democratic primary

- Ohio 8th District Appeals Court unexpired term, Democratic primary

- Common Pleas Court judge, term beginning Jan. 5, Democratic primary

- Common Pleas Court judge term beginning Jan. 7, Democratic primary

- Common Pleas Court judge term beginning Jan. 8, Democratic primary

- Common Pleas Court judge term beginning Jan. 10, Democratic primary

- Common Pleas Court judge term beginning Jan. 12, Democratic primary

- Juvenile Court judge, Democratic primary

- Brecksville zoning issue

- Broadview Heights zoning issue

- Fairview Park — 1-mill added fire levy

- Highland Heights — zoning issue and income tax increase to 2 percent

- Maple Heights — three added tax issues for municipal services and a charter amendment

- North Olmsted — five charter amendments

- Olmsted Falls — property tax increase for fire protection

- Parma — income tax increase to 2.5 percent

- Seven Hills — charter amendment and new fire property tax

- Solon green space issue

- Strongsville — $25 million bond issue for new municipal building

- Bedford Schools — 1-mill tax renewal

- Berea Schools — added 5.25-mill tax

- Fairview Park Schools — added 5.9-mill tax

- Garfield Schools — 6.44-mill tax renewal

- Mayfield Schools — added 0.9-mill tax

- North Olmsted Schools — $36.5 million building bond issue and an added 6.5-mill added tax

- Shaker Heights — added 9.9-mill tax for expenses

- Westlake Schools — added 6.9 mills for expenses

[partylessinOhio]

6. Poll workers are blamed for the voting machine problems:

Elections training hinted at trouble
Hundreds quit after sessions and others who had difficulty with system were dismissed
Saturday, May 06, 2006

Cuyahoga County Elections Director Michael Vu saw the storm clouds gathering in March.

Teams training some 6,000 to 7,000 poll workers how to operate the county's new multimillion-dollar electronic voting system were coming back with grim reports: ...

"They spent 20 minutes teaching us how to set up the legs for the machine and about two minutes on how to tally the votes at the end of the evening, clearly the most important step," said one worker who contacted The Plain Dealer after Tuesday's election.

David Rupp, a retiree who worked in a Lakewood voting place, said the 72-page manual was too complex. ...

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/114690446547620.xml?ncounty_cuyahoga&coll=2

[SoCalDem]

10. Don't need a 72 page manual for a sharpie & a paper ballot

All this is doing is making voting "too hard" to understand and creating a convenient diversion..:(

[sutz12]

7. The chief elections officer is running for governor?

Jesus H Christ, talk about marrying your sister. :puke:

[Rex]

8. A Democracy is a messy thing

never can tell how it will turn out. :eyes:

[BeFree]

9. What democracy?

The American idea of democracy is dead, 'cause Rove would say that he can tell how the vote will turn out.