Voting machine problem party specific?

[Lewis 0]

"Democrats Blast Ehrlich's Absentee-Voting Initiative

Governor May Attempt to Ban Electronic Voting

Faced with intense opposition to his proposal to switch from electronic voting machines to paper ballots, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. ® yesterday urged voters to stay away from polling places during the November general election and instead cast paper absentee ballots.

"It's the most rational solution to the primary election dysfunction," said Joseph M. Getty, Ehrlich's policy director.

The plan was denounced by some Democrats who said it was another attempt by the governor, who is up for reelection, to boost his candidacy by suppressing voter turnout and sowing doubts about the state's electronic voting system.

In a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans roughly 2 to 1, Ehrlich's critics said that the lower the turnout on Election Day, the better Ehrlich's chances are of defeating his Democratic opponent, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley.

Getty denied that politics was behind the announcement. The governor has long believed electronic voting systems are susceptible to fraud and malfunction, he said, and Ehrlich believes the state should scrap its $106 million electronic voting apparatus.

On Wednesday, Ehrlich said he was mulling whether to call a special session to push for a law requiring paper ballots and banning electronic voting. Getty said yesterday that option was still on the table.

But that idea was rebuffed harshly Wednesday by leaders of the General Assembly and Linda H. Lamone, the administrator of the Maryland State Board of Elections. Getty said the governor decided yesterday that the next best solution would be to promote the use of absentee paper ballots. Those ballots would give voters a renewed sense of confidence in the voting system after a bumpy primary marred by human errors and technical glitches, he said.

There were a mix of problems that touched off chaotic scenes at some polling places during the Sept. 12 primary. Some of the state's newly acquired electronic poll books, which were used to check in voters, crashed repeatedly. And there were problems synchronizing the machines, which meant that theoretically a voter could check in more than once and cast multiple ballots.

Lamone and Diebold Election System officials have pledged to fix the problems in time for the November election. And Lamone said the electronic voting system is the most safe and accurate available. By contrast, absentee ballots are more susceptible to voter fraud and coercion, she said, and the paper presents problems for blind and visually impaired voters who can cast ballots independently on the touch-screen machines. (end quote)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6092101046.html

[homesick_american 1]

As a programmer, I don't trust voting machines.

I program a SQL Server database and a VB application to do what I want it to do, but it often throws up unexpected results, i.e. bugs. I'm doing it with the best of intentions, and I like to think I test my code pretty well...but still, it does the weirdest, wildest things sometimes. Any programmer'll tell you that!

Something as important as an election deserves the security and permanence of paper ballots only.

[Lewis 0]

As a programmer, I don't trust voting machines.

I program a SQL Server database and a VB application to do what I want it to do, but it often throws up unexpected results, i.e. bugs. I'm doing it with the best of intentions, and I like to think I test my code pretty well...but still, it does the weirdest, wildest things sometimes. Any programmer'll tell you that!

Something as important as an election deserves the security and permanence of paper ballots only.

Yeah, I see your point. My county is a mess right now, I don't trust those machines or the people in charge of them at all. I may request a paper/absentee ballot.

[godsavethequeen 0]

Never trust a computer programme or a hippy.

[Lewis 0]

Hippy? I thought they passed away with the 60's. Actually, they are probably the ones sitting on the election board monitoring the voting process.

[homesick_american 1]

Hippy? I thought they passed away with the 60's. Actually, they are probably the ones sitting on the election board monitoring the voting process.

Come to England, the place is brimming with drum circles, white people with dredlocks, etc. It's actually a little sickening.

(Can't stand hippies. Most Americans seem to grow out of that ###### senior year of college.)