BBV - King County - rejecting nonpartisan ballots

[harmonyguy]

Amongst other things, the article in the link below gives many good reasons why consolidated ballots should NOT be used.
(And for the individual who was passionately expounding on the merits of paperless voting, it once again indicates that in some areas (dare I say many areas?) election officials and poll workers, regardless of their party affilliation, have their election management protocols neither thought through nor in place.)

Nonpartisan voters having to declare a party preference in order to vote on nonpartisan issues. (It was planned that way)

At some polling places, the override button either didn't function properly or workers didn't know how to use it.

When a voting machine wouldn't accept a nonpartisan ballot a poll worker put the ballot aside to be counted later.

excerpts below along with link to full article
-----------------------------------------------
Among the disgruntled in King County was attorney Rhys Sterling, who learned the ballot box wouldn't accept his ballot because he voted only on nonpartisan races and issues. His ballot was accepted only after the supervisor opened the machine and pressed a button overriding its programming. "So much for secret ballots," said Sterling, who claims that yesterday's voting procedures violate the state constitution's guarantee of "absolute secrecy" in preparing and depositing ballots.
(snip)
King County tabulating machines were programmed to reject ballots without party declarations in order to prevent partisan voters from mistakenly submitting ballots on which their partisan votes wouldn't be counted.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002036002_primary15m.html

[Andy_Stephenson]

1. That wasn't the only problem in King County

can't say what they were just yet...but will as documentation is obtained.

Thanks HG for the catch.

[Generic Other]

3. I almost did a write-in vote for "God, Bush and Cheney"

but I figured they'd throw out my ballot if I dared.

[Andy_Stephenson]

4. Thanks for the thought...

apparently 454 people did just that.

[RedEagle]

2. But.....consolidated ballots were supposed to be better!

After all, King County had to have an uncertified software change and all that.

[harmonyguy]

5. Yes, of course.

I copied you each on an email last night, about one little piece of that software that struck me as a bit odd.

Waiting with baited breath for the rest.

HG;-)

[harmonyguy]

6. Another thought...

... just crossed my mind.

For those voters who were forced to indicate a party preference in order to vote on nonpartisan issues, will that partisan choice now be reflected in their voter registration, thus forcing them to vote for THAT party in the Novemmber election?

Aren't they also using come software (I forget the name) that connects registration to tallying?

If so, I wonder WHAT steps are being taken to unlink the two to prevent non-partisan voters from having to make an unwarranted partisan choice in November?

HG

[JohnGideon]

7. HG.....

the voters did not have to indicate a party preference in order to vote nonpartisan. They only had to state that they were voting non-partisan only and the override button allowed the machine to take and count their ballot. The issue is that the voter actually had to state that they were voting non-partisan only, which is against state election law and counter to a guarantee made by our Secretary of State. Ellen Theisen and I talked to the attorney, Rhys Sterling yesterday about exactly what took place.

For absentee ballots that were marked non-partisan only the machines would kick them out uncounted and then those ballots would be refed through the machines after the override was set. Of course there was no lose of secrecy there.