Congressman Conyers: Chaos in Maryland Elections

[cal04]

Last week the elections in Montgomery County, Maryland featured some of the most egregious election day shortcomings I have ever witnessed. Scores of people arriving at the polls in this county learned that the electronic voting machines had not had voting cards installed. These people seeking to vote before work were largely sent away.

So many voters in Maryland, confronted with machine failure, had to vote with a provisional ballot. So many provisional ballots were sought that the county ran out of these ballots and people were forced to record their votes on scraps of paper.

A Congressional primary as well as a number of downballot races hang in the balance of the Maryland debacle. The final votes have yet to be counted.

A Washington Post article documented how far we are from providing reliably accurate elections.


In Montgomery County, the breakdown came when election officials failed to provide precinct workers with the access cards needed to operate electronic voting machines. In Prince George's County, computers misidentified some voters' party affiliation and failed to transmit data to the central election office. At least nine other states have had trouble this year with new voting technology.

During Illinois's March primary, poll workers in Cook County (Chicago) experienced problems at hundreds of sites with new voting technology, delaying results in a crucial vote for the county's board.

In Ohio, results from the May primary election were delayed for nearly a week in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) when thousands of absentee ballots were incorrectly formatted for electronic scanners and had to be counted by hand.


I have pledged to support efforts to guarantee voting integrity in the upcoming election. We need a paper trail for all votes cast nationally so that, in questionable circumstances such as these, a verifiable record exists.

http://www.conyersblog.us/

Major http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600885_pf.htmlProblems At Polls Feared

[Captain Hilts]

1. People who don't speak Spanish had to use Spanish language ballots...

it was total chaos.

I was lucky - I think - the system appeared to be working when I voted. But who knows how my vote was recorded...

[goclark]

3. Did that happen to Republicans polling places too?

I wonder who profited from the mess.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Reps and Dems voted in the same places. nt

[goclark]

2. Keep this kicked and spread the word nt

[Benhurst]

4. Recommended #3 NT

[TahitiNut]

5. Maryland has a black eye, Susan.

:dunce:

[Karenina]

11. Good one!!!

:loveya: Just because...

[TahitiNut]

13. (grin) I'm imagining about half who read that going "Huh?"

I enjoy that kind of lame stuff - puns, too. :dunce: I'm a sick puppy. :rofl:



:loveya:

[texpatriot2004]

6. No Transparency = No Democracy nt

[bvar22]

7. Paper Ballots

*Deposited in a Locked Ballot Box under public supervision

*Publicly Counted AT THE PRECINCT

*Results POSTED on the Precinct Door

Its OK if some machine helps the handicapped mark their ballots, but the ballots that are COUNTED MUST BE the PAPER BALLOTS dropped in the Ballot Box.

Nothing less will do.

[goclark]

9. I agree but how do we get that to happen by Novemberf? nt

[Laughing Mirror]

10. "forced to record their votes on scraps of paper"

might as well have given them paper ballots to begin with. The voter tears off one part, keeps the other part for a receipt.

Why do we need these voting machines and why are they being pushed on us? Who's making all the money off these voting machines? Aren't they more trouble than they're worth?

[MissWaverly]

12. I voted before I walked in the door

When I went up to show my voter registration card, they told me that I had already "voted."
I said no, I just got here, that's okay they said, we will put a piece of paper with your
card so they will count it which will explain that you only voted once. This is in the Baltimore City 2006 primary.

Miss Waverly

[In Truth We Trust]

14. Hand Counted Paper ballots NOW!!! or Fascism forever.