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Evoting Problems in Ohio

Posted by michael on from the what-me-worry dept.

deus_X_machina writes "The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that a computer error involving one voting-machine cartridge gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in a Gahanna precinct. Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, says the cartridge was retested yesterday and there were no problems. He couldn't explain why the computer reader malfunctioned."

2 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Good god by Bobo_The_Boinger · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think the article is really concerned with WHO the extra votes were for, it is just indicating that there are problems with a electronic voting system that does not include paper trails to provide a more reliable count. The article is trying to indicate that we should not just blindly trust electronic machines, and I agree with them. Whether the extra votes were for Bush or Kerry is beside the point really.

    --
    --David
  2. Re:Big fucking deal by jpmkm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wouldn't be so quick to call this an inconsistency. It is simply a glitch that would have been corrected by the normal operating procedure had someone not noticed it. The count was unofficial for a reason. They verify the count for a reason - to catch mistakes like this. If every part of the system was infallible then checks would not be necessary and the preliminary count would be official. I don't care for Bush, but I'm not about to cry about every little mistake in the procedure. The system is designed to correct these mistakes.