Joe Hall, a UC Berkeley grad student and staff for the ACCURATE project has compiled a list of glitches from around the country in last Tuesday's election. His collection features links to news articles where the glitches were originally reported. Excerpts are below.
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Harwinton, Connecticut - Voting machine snafu may lead to challenge in Harwinton
One candidate was endorsed in a race by both Republican and Democratic parties and was listed twice in a choose 2 out of 3 race. This candidate, due to being listed twice, got twice as many votes as the other two candidates in the same contest.
Pasquotank Co., North Carolina - In Elizabeth City, a 14-vote gap has one candidate calling for a recount
Selecting a certain candidate in the only contest on the ballot resulted in a write-in candidate box being selected instead. The margin in this race was 14 votes. Also, 60 blank ballots were cast (recall that there was only one race for this election). Also see: "Count on recount in E. City mayor’s race"
Lucas Co., Ohio - State plans to investigate voting chaos; Tuesday's problems are latest for Lucas County
This one is mysterious: "workers accidentally 'set an option [on the five machines] that prevented the results from being transported onto the memory card.'" Also, massive labor shortage resulted in chaos as election was highly understaffed and a system of "rovers" didn't function correctly (where one elections worker would travel to five polling places to get aggregate totals from machines). Also, see: "Poll workers blast use of 'rovers'"
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Relatively calm Election Day
Today's San Francisco Chronicle features an article by Greg Lucas assessing how the election went -- and it appears things were relatively smooth. Excepts are below.
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With the exception of some missing poll workers, an on-the-fritz scanner in Tuolumne County, some uncounted votes in Stanislaus County, a power outage in Lassen and transportation problems in Los Angeles, processing the 6.8 million ballots cast in Tuesday's election went off without much hassle.
One reason there were so few snafus is that one third of the ballots -- 2.3 million -- were absentee.
The remaining absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted could push the figures closer to the 40 percent vote-by-mail estimate by Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.
"Sure there was the occasional glitch, but generally the reports coming in from the counties is that the processes worked smoothly," said Conny McCormack, registrar of Los Angeles County and president of the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials.
"Considering how fast we had to put this election together and pull it off administratively, I thought we all did extremely well," McCormack said.
----
There were no widespread problems with the election in the Bay Area.
Stephen Weir, Contra Costa County registrar, said the election went well but his county and some others had a higher-than-normal number of "no show" poll workers.
In Stanislaus County, election officials decided not to count 20 precincts of mail-in ballots until Wednesday morning. But state election officials awakened them long after midnight and told them the ballots had to be counted right away.
One of Tuolumne County's vote-counting scanners gave up the ghost, leaving ballot counters with just one scanner to process votes.
"It took us an hour-plus longer than normal. Otherwise, everything was fine and dandy," said Tim Johnson, the county registrar.
Monterey was one of seven counties testing new technology that lets voters double-check their selections before casting a ballot electronically.
The devices are required on all electronic voting machines beginning with the June 2006 primary.
"This wasn't a test, it was the real thing," said Claudio Valenzuela, precinct service coordinator for Monterey County.
"Some voters thought they were getting a receipt, but after poll workers explained it was for verification, not a receipt, they were OK with that," Valenzuela said.
Kari Verjil, registrar of San Bernardino County -- the largest jurisdiction in the country to use the verification devices -- said despite a few paper jams the devices worked "exceptionally well."
The above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty award for the election probably goes to four poll workers in Lassen County who arrived at their polling place, the Veterans Memorial Hall in Bieber, population 510, to find the power out and no water.
A snowstorm had downed power lines. Rather than give up the site, they opened the polling place with flashlights. To combat the cold, the husband of one of the poll workers brought wood and got a fire blazing in the hall's fireplace. A voter went home and returned with a propane lantern.
----------------
With the exception of some missing poll workers, an on-the-fritz scanner in Tuolumne County, some uncounted votes in Stanislaus County, a power outage in Lassen and transportation problems in Los Angeles, processing the 6.8 million ballots cast in Tuesday's election went off without much hassle.
One reason there were so few snafus is that one third of the ballots -- 2.3 million -- were absentee.
The remaining absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted could push the figures closer to the 40 percent vote-by-mail estimate by Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.
"Sure there was the occasional glitch, but generally the reports coming in from the counties is that the processes worked smoothly," said Conny McCormack, registrar of Los Angeles County and president of the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials.
"Considering how fast we had to put this election together and pull it off administratively, I thought we all did extremely well," McCormack said.
----
There were no widespread problems with the election in the Bay Area.
Stephen Weir, Contra Costa County registrar, said the election went well but his county and some others had a higher-than-normal number of "no show" poll workers.
In Stanislaus County, election officials decided not to count 20 precincts of mail-in ballots until Wednesday morning. But state election officials awakened them long after midnight and told them the ballots had to be counted right away.
One of Tuolumne County's vote-counting scanners gave up the ghost, leaving ballot counters with just one scanner to process votes.
"It took us an hour-plus longer than normal. Otherwise, everything was fine and dandy," said Tim Johnson, the county registrar.
Monterey was one of seven counties testing new technology that lets voters double-check their selections before casting a ballot electronically.
The devices are required on all electronic voting machines beginning with the June 2006 primary.
"This wasn't a test, it was the real thing," said Claudio Valenzuela, precinct service coordinator for Monterey County.
"Some voters thought they were getting a receipt, but after poll workers explained it was for verification, not a receipt, they were OK with that," Valenzuela said.
Kari Verjil, registrar of San Bernardino County -- the largest jurisdiction in the country to use the verification devices -- said despite a few paper jams the devices worked "exceptionally well."
The above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty award for the election probably goes to four poll workers in Lassen County who arrived at their polling place, the Veterans Memorial Hall in Bieber, population 510, to find the power out and no water.
A snowstorm had downed power lines. Rather than give up the site, they opened the polling place with flashlights. To combat the cold, the husband of one of the poll workers brought wood and got a fire blazing in the hall's fireplace. A voter went home and returned with a propane lantern.
End of paperless e-voting in California
Tuesday's election marked the last time paperless electronic voting machines will be used in a California election. Ian Hoffman of the Oakland Tribune wrote an article about the end of the era. Excerpts are below.
-----------
Elaine Ginnold awoke in a darkened home with no electricity - a harrowing way for the Alameda County elections chief to launch Tuesday's special election with fully electronic voting machines.
No power, no votes.
Ginnold muttered an epithet but relaxed later when driving past her local polling place, a fire station with its lights blazing. Her Election Day opened with the usual headaches: no-shows of poll workers, polling places still locked and a smattering of technical problems such as inoperable electronic voter cards and a few inoperable e-voting machines. The days of those last glitches, and worrying about power outages, are on their way out. The era of paperless, fully computerized voting machinery ended Tuesday in California.
Ginnold for one isn't sorry to see a return to paper balloting.
“I'm looking forward to it,” she said. “I don't see that we're going backwards at all."
Soon after voters in Piedmont tried their hand at paperless, touch-screen voting in 1999, electronic voting soared in popularity. It was easy as an ATM. The curses of paper balloting multiple languages, multiple districts, multiple parties, paper jams would vanish, along with the hanging and pregnant chad so reviled from the 2000 elections.
E-voting had none of these ambiguities: The memory either stored a vote for, a vote against or none at all.
E-voting makers and elections officials talked of near-instantaneous results, beamed wirelessly from polling places to central elections offices for immediate posting on the Internet. Paperless voting was the way of the future.
But in 2002, criticism arose from an unlikely quarter: Computer scientists who had written software for NASA moonshots and Star Wars missile-defense systems said computers were too subject to programming error and too unsecure to rely upon them solely as arbiters of political power.
More detailed analysis of e-voting software at Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere revealed vulnerabilities to hacking.
The new voting machines also brought their own drawbacks. They were expensive, often costing $4,000 apiece, and while the touch screens themselves had relatively few problems, related hardware and software breakdowns thwarted voters in several large counties in 2004.
In California, voters wary of politics and government latched onto the controversy and to one solution proposed by computer scientists: Add printers to the electronic voting machines and provide a printed record of the ballot for voters to check and elections officials to recount.
In six months, the state became the first to require a voter-verified paper trail for all e-voting machines. Last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill requiring elections officials to use the paper trail in recounts.
“It's been a long road to get where we are now, where the use of paperless electronic machines is on the decline,” said Kim Alexander, president of the nonprofit California Voter Foundation and a leading advocate of paper trails.
----
Starting Jan. 1, all electronic voting machines must produce a paper trail that will be used in automatic recounts of 1 percent of precincts, as a check of computerized vote tallies, and in full recounts in the event of an election challenge.
Alfie Charles, an executive with Oakland-based Sequoia Voting Systems and a former state elections official, said he thinks paperless e-voting is gone for good.
“It worked well and served its purpose but unfortunately was not trusted, for either perceived or valid reasons,” he said. “And in elections, perception is critical.”
-----------
Elaine Ginnold awoke in a darkened home with no electricity - a harrowing way for the Alameda County elections chief to launch Tuesday's special election with fully electronic voting machines.
No power, no votes.
Ginnold muttered an epithet but relaxed later when driving past her local polling place, a fire station with its lights blazing. Her Election Day opened with the usual headaches: no-shows of poll workers, polling places still locked and a smattering of technical problems such as inoperable electronic voter cards and a few inoperable e-voting machines. The days of those last glitches, and worrying about power outages, are on their way out. The era of paperless, fully computerized voting machinery ended Tuesday in California.
Ginnold for one isn't sorry to see a return to paper balloting.
“I'm looking forward to it,” she said. “I don't see that we're going backwards at all."
Soon after voters in Piedmont tried their hand at paperless, touch-screen voting in 1999, electronic voting soared in popularity. It was easy as an ATM. The curses of paper balloting multiple languages, multiple districts, multiple parties, paper jams would vanish, along with the hanging and pregnant chad so reviled from the 2000 elections.
E-voting had none of these ambiguities: The memory either stored a vote for, a vote against or none at all.
E-voting makers and elections officials talked of near-instantaneous results, beamed wirelessly from polling places to central elections offices for immediate posting on the Internet. Paperless voting was the way of the future.
But in 2002, criticism arose from an unlikely quarter: Computer scientists who had written software for NASA moonshots and Star Wars missile-defense systems said computers were too subject to programming error and too unsecure to rely upon them solely as arbiters of political power.
More detailed analysis of e-voting software at Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere revealed vulnerabilities to hacking.
The new voting machines also brought their own drawbacks. They were expensive, often costing $4,000 apiece, and while the touch screens themselves had relatively few problems, related hardware and software breakdowns thwarted voters in several large counties in 2004.
In California, voters wary of politics and government latched onto the controversy and to one solution proposed by computer scientists: Add printers to the electronic voting machines and provide a printed record of the ballot for voters to check and elections officials to recount.
In six months, the state became the first to require a voter-verified paper trail for all e-voting machines. Last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill requiring elections officials to use the paper trail in recounts.
“It's been a long road to get where we are now, where the use of paperless electronic machines is on the decline,” said Kim Alexander, president of the nonprofit California Voter Foundation and a leading advocate of paper trails.
----
Starting Jan. 1, all electronic voting machines must produce a paper trail that will be used in automatic recounts of 1 percent of precincts, as a check of computerized vote tallies, and in full recounts in the event of an election challenge.
Alfie Charles, an executive with Oakland-based Sequoia Voting Systems and a former state elections official, said he thinks paperless e-voting is gone for good.
“It worked well and served its purpose but unfortunately was not trusted, for either perceived or valid reasons,” he said. “And in elections, perception is critical.”
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Voting Hotline -- Report problems at 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Verified Voting and a coalition of nonprofit organizations is sponsoring a toll-free hotline voters in California and other states can use to report any problems experienced today at polling places. The hotline number is 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Excerpts from their announcement are featured below.
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If you experience any problem casting your ballot -- finding the polling place, voter intimidation, accessibility issues, voting machine problems, provisional ballot issues, etc. -- or you witness anyone having voting problems, please immediately call 1-866-OUR-VOTE to report the problem.
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Verified Voting Foundation volunteers and staff have developed a new version of the "Election Incident Reporting System" (EIRS) to record all problems reported to 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Since 2004, hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals in the United States have used EIRS to help protect our right to vote and assure that every vote is counted as cast.
-----------
If you experience any problem casting your ballot -- finding the polling place, voter intimidation, accessibility issues, voting machine problems, provisional ballot issues, etc. -- or you witness anyone having voting problems, please immediately call 1-866-OUR-VOTE to report the problem.
---
Verified Voting Foundation volunteers and staff have developed a new version of the "Election Incident Reporting System" (EIRS) to record all problems reported to 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Since 2004, hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals in the United States have used EIRS to help protect our right to vote and assure that every vote is counted as cast.
Schwarzenegger Hits Snag at Polling Place
Bob Salladay reports today on the Los Angeles Times' web site that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ran into some problems today when he attempted to vote at his Brentwood polling place. His story is featured below.
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up to his Brentwood neighborhood polling station today to cast his ballot in the special election — and was told he had already voted.
Elections officials said a Los Angeles County poll worker had entered Schwarzenegger's name into an electronic voting touch screen station in Pasadena on Oct. 25. The worker, who was not identified, was testing the voting machine in preparation for early voting that began the next day.
Somehow, Schwarzenegger's name was then placed on a list of people who had already voted, said Conny B. McCormack, the Los Angeles County registrar.
Schwarzenegger's aides were informed of the problem when they arrived this morning to survey the governor's polling station. The poll worker told the governor's staff he would have to use a "provisional" ballot that allows elections workers to verify if two votes were made by the same person. McCormack said the poll worker did the correct thing.
The governor, however, was allowed to use a regular ballot.
McCormack said she apologized to the governor's staff and would investigate what happened. She said nobody actually voted for Schwarzenegger in Pasadena, and the governor's votes today will be counted.
"This is someone who breached our protocol and was playing around in advance of the election," she said.
Tom Hiltachk, the governor's attorney, said: "I have no reason to believe anything nefarious occurred.
But Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the problem highlights the need for better verification of electronic voting.
"If the governor is going to have a mix-up on his ballot," she said, "it will make other voters wonder what is going to happen with their ballots."
------------
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up to his Brentwood neighborhood polling station today to cast his ballot in the special election — and was told he had already voted.
Elections officials said a Los Angeles County poll worker had entered Schwarzenegger's name into an electronic voting touch screen station in Pasadena on Oct. 25. The worker, who was not identified, was testing the voting machine in preparation for early voting that began the next day.
Somehow, Schwarzenegger's name was then placed on a list of people who had already voted, said Conny B. McCormack, the Los Angeles County registrar.
Schwarzenegger's aides were informed of the problem when they arrived this morning to survey the governor's polling station. The poll worker told the governor's staff he would have to use a "provisional" ballot that allows elections workers to verify if two votes were made by the same person. McCormack said the poll worker did the correct thing.
The governor, however, was allowed to use a regular ballot.
McCormack said she apologized to the governor's staff and would investigate what happened. She said nobody actually voted for Schwarzenegger in Pasadena, and the governor's votes today will be counted.
"This is someone who breached our protocol and was playing around in advance of the election," she said.
Tom Hiltachk, the governor's attorney, said: "I have no reason to believe anything nefarious occurred.
But Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the problem highlights the need for better verification of electronic voting.
"If the governor is going to have a mix-up on his ballot," she said, "it will make other voters wonder what is going to happen with their ballots."
Voters in Electronic Voting Counties Have the Right to Request a Paper Ballot at the Polls
Nine California counties will use paperless electronic voting machines at their polling places today:
Alameda
Merced
Napa
Orange
Plumas
Riverside
Santa Clara
Shasta
Tehama
Voters in these counties have the right to request a paper ballot at the polls. See CVF's voting technology map and county-by-county directory for more information about California voting systems.
And, for a little inspiration, as well as useful information, watch this "Paper or Plastic?" video from last November.
In some electronic voting counties, paper-ballot voters will be treated as provisional voters, which is unfortunate because it subjects these voters to unecessary concerns about their ballot secrecy and whether their ballot will be counted.
There has been some confusion about the number of counties that will use paperless e-voting machines. Please note that the voting system information on the Secretary of State's web site is not up to date. There are seven California counties using touchscreens with voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) printers in today's election, and this information is not fully reflected in the Secretary of State's chart. Those seven are:
Imperial
Inyo
Kings
Mariposa
Mono
Monterey
San Bernardino
San Bernardino converted from paperless touchscreens to touchscreens with VVPAT printers. Monterey is using one DRE per polling place. Current Secretary of State policies prohibit counties from purchasing paperless DRE systems. This was a directive that was issued by the previous Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, and to the best of my knowledge still stands.
Alameda
Merced
Napa
Orange
Plumas
Riverside
Santa Clara
Shasta
Tehama
Voters in these counties have the right to request a paper ballot at the polls. See CVF's voting technology map and county-by-county directory for more information about California voting systems.
And, for a little inspiration, as well as useful information, watch this "Paper or Plastic?" video from last November.
In some electronic voting counties, paper-ballot voters will be treated as provisional voters, which is unfortunate because it subjects these voters to unecessary concerns about their ballot secrecy and whether their ballot will be counted.
There has been some confusion about the number of counties that will use paperless e-voting machines. Please note that the voting system information on the Secretary of State's web site is not up to date. There are seven California counties using touchscreens with voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) printers in today's election, and this information is not fully reflected in the Secretary of State's chart. Those seven are:
Imperial
Inyo
Kings
Mariposa
Mono
Monterey
San Bernardino
San Bernardino converted from paperless touchscreens to touchscreens with VVPAT printers. Monterey is using one DRE per polling place. Current Secretary of State policies prohibit counties from purchasing paperless DRE systems. This was a directive that was issued by the previous Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, and to the best of my knowledge still stands.
Monday, November 7, 2005
Bounty of Information for Voters Online
We issued this news release last Friday letting voters know where to look for reliable election information online. Read the release for descriptions of, and links to nonpartisan web sites providing information on all eight statewide ballot propositions.
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
One week to go -- are you ready? Have a house party!
Today I posted this newsletter to CVF-NEWS about my election house party experience last week. If you're interested in hosting a house party, you can read my newsletter and find out more about it. More information about election house parties is also available from our web site.
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