Florida's Voting Machine Problems

MrBadExample

CAGiversary!
Feedback
1 (100%)
Some Fla. election electronic records lost
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By HILARY ROXE

July 28, 2004  |  MIAMI (AP) -- A computer crash erased detailed records from Miami-Dade County's first widespread use of touchscreen voting machines, raising again the specter of elections troubles in Florida, where the new technology was supposed to put an end to such problems.

The crashes occurred in May and November of 2003, erasing information from the September 2002 gubernatorial primaries and other elections, elections officials said Tuesday.

The malfunction was made public after the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition, a citizen's group, requested all data from the 2002 gubernatorial primary between Democratic candidates Janet Reno and Bill McBride.

In December, officials began backing up the data daily, to help avoid similar data wipeouts in the future, said Seth Kaplan, spokesman for the county's elections supervisor, Constance Kaplan.

The loss of data underscores problems with the touchscreen voting machines, the citizen's group said. "This is a disaster waiting to happen," said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, chairwoman of the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition. "Of course it's worrisome."

The group is concerned about the machines' effectiveness, following revelations about other problems with the system. Last month, state officials said the touchscreen systems used by 11 counties had a bug that would make a manual recount impossible. Earlier this month, a newspaper study indicated touchscreen machines did not perform as well as those that scanned paper ballots.

Also Tuesday, election reform groups asked a judge to strike down a state rule preventing counties that use the machines from conducting manual recounts from them.

State election officers say manual recounts are not needed since the machines tell each voter if they are skipping a race, known as an undervote, and will not let them vote twice for the same race, known as an overvote. The officials also maintain that the computer systems running the machines can be trusted to count the votes accurately as they're cast, and give the final numbers when needed.

But lawyers representing the ACLU and other groups said the state should require a paper trail in case a physical recount is needed, as it was in the 2000 presidential race in Florida.

"I have concern about votes that are cast but not recorded," said Howard Simon, executive director for ACLU of Florida.

Election supervisors from some of the 15 counties using touchscreens had asked the state if they would need to go through the laborious process of printing screen images of each ballot during a recount.

The Division of Elections then ruled that state law only requires a recount to determine voters' intent, and that it is impossible to question voter intent with touchscreen ballots.

Florida counties without the touchscreen machines use optiscan technology, in which computers read voters' pencil marks on paper ballots, and would be able to do physical recounts in tight races.

Administrative Law Judge Susan B. Kirkland has 30 days to make her decision after receiving the hearing transcript, which is due back in 10 working days.

Florida's voting system has been under scrutiny since the 2000 debacle, when it took five weeks of legal maneuvering and some recounting before Republican George W. Bush was declared president.
 
It doesn't matter how terrible they are, they seem like a good idea to anybody who doesn't know anything about them and is naive; that's over 90% of voters, and over 99% of decision makers.
 
the just need to keep it simple there a ftp website that show you how to crack 3 or more different machines. and they evened showed how easy it was to crack one on screen savers (before g4 days)
 
Those same voting machines are causing problems in California too! Unfortunately, they are being made by a California company (Whose name I forget) and they are lobbying hard to keep the machines going..
 
lets make sure an all Republican task force is put in charge of votin like last time. It worked wonders, especially in the black communities.
 
[quote name='Xevious']Those same voting machines are causing problems in California too! Unfortunately, they are being made by a California company (Whose name I forget) and they are lobbying hard to keep the machines going..[/quote]

Diebold.
Their board of directors give quite a bit of money to one of our nation's political parties. Care to guess which one?

The other large manufacturer of voting machines is ES&S. Their machines will be used in some other states in the 2004 election. Coincidently they also give money to the same political party.
 
[quote name='Elrod'][quote name='Xevious']Those same voting machines are causing problems in California too! Unfortunately, they are being made by a California company (Whose name I forget) and they are lobbying hard to keep the machines going..[/quote]

Diebold.
Their board of directors give quite a bit of money to one of our nation's political parties. Care to guess which one?
[/quote]

Wait, wait, I think I know this...

"committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next
year." - Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc.
 
[quote name='eldad9'][quote name='Elrod'][quote name='Xevious']Those same voting machines are causing problems in California too! Unfortunately, they are being made by a California company (Whose name I forget) and they are lobbying hard to keep the machines going..[/quote]

Diebold.
Their board of directors give quite a bit of money to one of our nation's political parties. Care to guess which one?
[/quote]

Wait, wait, I think I know this...

"committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next
year." - Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc.[/quote]


Thanks for reminding me of the Company's name. And thanks for letting me do my 300th post.
 
What people fail to realize in trying to fix what happened in Florida is a simple maxim:

Perfection is the enemy of good.

CTL
 
What people fail to realize in trying to fix what happened in Florida is a simple maxim:

Perfection is the enemy of good.

CTL
 
[quote name='CTLesq']What people fail to realize in trying to fix what happened in Florida is a simple maxim:

Perfection is the enemy of good.

CTL[/quote]

Are you saying we should keep the current machines so Bush can easily win?

Thats not democracy.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla'][quote name='CTLesq']What people fail to realize in trying to fix what happened in Florida is a simple maxim:

Perfection is the enemy of good.

CTL[/quote]

Are you saying we should keep the current machines so Bush can easily win?

Thats not democracy.[/quote]

You really are a troubled little boy arnt you?
 
They aren't going to use those machines in Ohio now because of the security issues involved. BTW Diebold is based in Canton, OH
 
the security seriously does need to be tightened up.

I think it might have been in my town, but there was like a group of blacks at the votign place who would send a couple of people out to get drunken and/or homeless people. Then they'd bring em back, give them a voting card with the candidate that they wanted the people to vote for already marked and sent the people in to turn in the voting slips
 
I don't see any problems with Florida's voting machines. The Diebold guy just left and all the routers and equipment Jeb Bush had sent to my house will properly ensure that I'm giving Florida to GW.

What problem? I don't see a problem. It works just fine. Want to watch me elect Mickey Mouse as a write in candidate in Palm Beach County? Wait until you see which of the Golden Girls gets elected to Miami city council.

This election is going to be so much fun. I have a whole state at my beck and call through my iMac.
 
[quote name='Ikohn4ever']lets make sure an all Republican task force is put in charge of votin like last time. It worked wonders, especially in the black communities.[/quote]

Funny you should say that. Florida leaves election operations to county officials. In each of the three problem counties during the 2000 election the county commisioners were all Democrats.

But don't let that shatter your dearly held mythology.
 
epobirs I DEMAND that you stop insisting that blacks didn't pick Republicans to be their election supervisors! You know their voting record! It's 90% against Dem.... oops.... wrong party....

Nevermind.
 
Apparently Republicans aren't too happy with the voting machines either.

Fla. GOP advises some to vote absentee
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Brent Kallestad

July 29, 2004  |  Tallahassee, FL -- Republican Gov. Jeb Bush has tried for months to persuade Florida voters touchscreen voting machines are reliable. His own party apparently hasn't gotten the message.

The state GOP paid for a flier critical of the new technology and sent it to some south Florida voters where a primary election is scheduled next month.

"The new electronic voting machines do not have a paper ballot to verify your vote in case of a recount," the message states. "Make sure your vote counts. Order your absentee ballot today."

That's what Democrats and a coalition of civil rights groups have been saying in legal challenges, trying to force the state to provide a paper trail in case the touchscreen machines malfunction.

"It is insulting that the leadership's own party would believe that the system is broke," said Sharon Lettman Pacheco, spokeswoman for People for the American Way.

The machines are being used in 15 of the state's largest counties.

The governor, unaware of the mailing beforehand, wasn't happy.

"I think he was disappointed that there would be any message that's out there that criticizes these machines," Bush spokeswoman Jill Bratina said.

Earlier this week, state election officials reported that a computer crash erased detailed records from Miami-Dade County's first widespread use of the touchscreen machines in the 2002 gubernatorial primaries and other elections.
 
bread's done
Back
Top