Concerns mount about accuracy of Palm Beach County's ballot counting machines

[struggle4progress]

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

By Brian Haas | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 28, 2008

If 2000 was the year of the "hanging chad" in Palm Beach County, will 2008 be the year of the failed sorting machine?

With just a few days until the Nov. 4 general election, questions about the ballot counting machines' accuracy leave Palm Beach County vulnerable to legal challenges and could erode voter confidence, voter advocates say. One other Florida county and several others across the nation have reported similar problems — with accuracy, phantom votes and other issues — involving Sequoia Voting Systems machines.

The same machines that failed an Oct. 1 test to see whether they could sort ballots will be used to process absentee ballots and to tally results of a recount if one is needed ...

"There is clearly an accuracy problem," said John Gideon, co-executive director of VotersUnite.org, a nonpartisan election watchdog group, speaking about Palm Beach County's machines ...

Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpsequoia1028pnoct28,0,6683866.story

[redqueen]

1. This is just embarrassing.

So many countries are able to manage to have safe, secure, routine elections.

Shameful.

[TrogL]

2. Canada just had an election

The whole thing was done with paper ballots, cardboard voter screens, carbon paper, a bunch of envelopes and sticky tape.

Results were tallied in time for the 11 p.m. news.

[redqueen]

3. Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about.

Gee, a casual observer might get the idea that those in power here here didn't really want every vote to be safely cast & counted.

[Sal Minella]

7. Think it was a total of four hours to get final results last time Canada had an election.

Certainly might be worthwhile to send a couple Senators up there to find out how they do it and report back --

[Gregorian]

4. So what was the point in putting a man on the moon?

We're still in the dark down here.

Now's not the time to be getting around to discovering this. Brain dead.

Edit- removed expletive. DU has gotten expletive crazy these days. Argh. :)

[loudsue]

5. Voters need to threaten a run on the banks.

If we can't trust computers with our votes, we sure can't trust 'em with our money.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Oh, jeez! This is grotesque. Someone is having a lot of fun at the public's expense.

From the article:

In a legal challenge of the results, tests showed Sequoia's machines not only failed to count the same ballots the same way twice, but also rejected ballots that appeared to be perfectly good votes.

What a shame they have been allowed to flaunt their power to deceive the public in our faces since November, 2000.