More Voting Shenanigans in Florida

stewwy writes "It looks like the the shenanigans have started already, the Register is running a story about the difficulty early voters are having with casting votes for Democrats." From the article: "The touch-screen gizmos seem strangely attracted to Republican candidates. One voter needed assistance from an election official, and even then, needed three tries to convince the machine that he wanted to vote for Democrat Jim Davis in the gubernatorial race, not his Republican opponent Charlie Crist."

Comments

Nice summary

[Mayhem178]

The article summary is misleading in ways that would give CNN a hardon.

It says nothing about why the terminals were malfunctioning, which had everything to do with touch screen calibration (and the need to recalibrate from time to time) and nothing to do with some right-wing conspiracy. In fact, the article implies that it was one machine in particular, not all of them.

Way to spin it to work the /. hordes into a raging frenzy.

Re:Nice summary

[CaymanIslandCarpedie]

Not too much of a conspiracy theorist, but how do you get "the article implies that it was one machine in particular"? Here is a direct quote:

Broward Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman Mary Cooney said it's not uncommon for screens on heavily used machines to slip out of sync, making votes register incorrectly.
also
In Miami-Dade, two machines have been taken out of service during early voting. No votes were lost, Sola said.

Now here are the cases the article specifically talks about:

1) Debra A. Reed voted with her boss on Wednesday at African-American Research Library and Cultural Center near Fort Lauderdale. Her vote went smoothly, but boss Gary Rudolf called her over to look at what was happening on his machine. He touched the screen for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, a Democrat, but the review screen repeatedly registered the Republican, Charlie Crist.
2) Joan Marek, 60, a Democrat from Hollywood, was also stunned to see Charlie Crist on her ballot review page after voting on Thursday. ''Am I on the voting screen again?'' she wondered. ``Well, this is too weird.''
3) Mauricio Raponi wanted to vote for Democrats across the board at the Lemon City Library in Miami on Thursday. But each time he hit the button next to the candidate, the Republican choice showed up. Raponi, 53, persevered until the machine worked. Then he alerted a poll worker.

So besides the "its common", etc they also specifically talk about three specific cases in three seperate cities. Unless, that one machine is really making the rounds I don't see how it could be just one.

Re:Where is my tinfoil hat?

[HappySqurriel]

I don't want to sound like a Mel-Gibson-style conspiracy nut, but it's hard not to reach for the tinfoil when you read anecdotal reports like this. It would take such a small shift of votes to change an election ... I dunno, can the party in power resist that temptation? Given that they can't resist any other temptations?

One problem with anecdotal reports is that they can easily be abused by the media to skew people's opinions of what is happening. Suppose, for a moment, that these voting machines are buggy and that you have similar numbers of Republicans and Democrats that have problems voting for their candidates. Now with past voting irregularities in Florida there is an increased sensitivity in Democrat voters to problems like this; this means that these people are more likely to report these problems to the media, and the media are far more likely to report these occurances.

I'm not saying this is what is happening, it is just a possibility.

So?

[slapout]

"Florida voters using electronic ballot machines are having persistent problems choosing Democrats in early elections, the Miami Herald reports."

I have trouble voting for Democrats too. :-)

Re:User Error

[zippthorne]

"making voting idiot proof" shouldn't mean making it easier for idiots to vote.

Re:Where is my tinfoil hat?

[Hijacked Public]

Touchscreens are used extensively in the manufacturing industry for operator/machine interfaces. Some of the better HMI packages even have built in drivers and calibration.

These screens are used by people of widely varying height, vision, mental bandwidth, sometimes wearing gloves and sometimes not. They are also exposed to dust and sand and solvents and grease.

While I agree that people have a hard time knowing what to push I wouldn't blame the screens. If someone can't cobble together a reliable touch interface that doesn't need to be calibrated in the field, for a system will run only one application, they are either incompetent or purposely screwing up. The latter would be my guess.

Drop the FUD: read the ACTUAL Miami Herald Article

[fortinbras47]

Here is the actual Miami Herald article that The Register article is based on.

The headline on the Miami Herald piece? Only minor glitches reported in early voting

Read the full article. You have one woman in Florida who had a problem (or made a mistake), realized the problem, and had it corrected. This is HARDLY voting "shenannigans."

Excerpting from the article:

''It has been fantastic,'' Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor Lester Sola said. ``Our ability to process voters accurately and at a faster rate really has improved.'' To help keep things running smoothly, everything is done electronically, he said. Registered voters can swipe their Florida driver's license or have their voter registration cards scanned to verify they can vote, then sign their names on an electronic monitor similar to those used in stores, he said. While most voters find the electronic machines easy to use, they are not foolproof, as Joan Marek discovered on Thursday at the Hollywood satellite courthouse. After casting her votes, Marek, a Democrat, was surprised to see name of Charlie Crist -- the Republican candidate for governor -- on the review screen. She was able to go back and correct the vote, and alerted poll workers to the problem.

Re:Excellent!

[tbannist]

Indeed, the votes which have been corrected to vote Republican are just making up for reality's well known liberal bias.

Malice not required.

[Kadin2048]

While I agree that people have a hard time knowing what to push I wouldn't blame the screens. If someone can't cobble together a reliable touch interface that doesn't need to be calibrated in the field, for a system will run only one application, they are either incompetent or purposely screwing up. The latter would be my guess.

I disagree. Never attribute to malice what you can attribute to idiocy, carelessness, ignorance, stupidity, incompetence, or laziness; particularly in combination with each other.

That the machines are just poorly-thought-out, poorly-engineered, poorly-constructed, poorly-maintained piles of shit, seems far more likely than such an obvious conspiracy.

I suspect that people cutting corners and generally being lazy or careless results in the deaths of more people every year than intentional, thoughtful acts of evil do. Probably a lot more.

There is a finite amount of evil in the world, but an infinite amount of stupidity.

Re:Where is my tinfoil hat?

[killjoe]

Even if it was the voting machine randomly switching votes isn't that something to be concerned about? You make it sound like if the votes were switched randomly everything is hunky dory.

Having said that...

1) There is documented evidence of votes for democrats going to republicans.
2) There is no documented evidence of votes for republicans going to democrats.
3) The elections office is being run by republicans.
4) The voting machines are made by a company which is being run by an avid republican supporter.

If you want to keep pretending that this is some minor glitch then go ahead.

Re:Excellent!

[McFadden]

And yet, no word from Slashdot on the dead people casting absentee votes for Democrats as reported recently.

With respect, it's the failure of the technology that makes it relevant to the slashdot readership. If every small incidence of voter fraud were reported, slashdot would have no room for anything else.

In other words, STFU with your goddamn conspiracies, you loony wingnuts/moonbats. You fuck up politics and turn it into a big playground with two lines of children throwing spitwads back and forth and tattling to the teachers about various things.

That's right. It's the conspiracy theorists that are responsible for the complete polarization and "fuckup" of politics these days. You keep on believing that. Sounds almost like a conspiracy in itself. (And that's ignoring the fact that you're the only person who's descended into pathetic name-calling and ranting, yet you feel justified in calling other people children).

I'm going to fix an election.

[Progoth]

I have total control of the voting machines, and I'm going to fix the election. I need some help though...I have a hard decision to make...

Should I a) let the voter choose whatever he or she wants, and then assign all the votes to my candidate? or b) randomly have the machine reassign input to choose my candidate, giving them a chance to verify and correct their vote?

I just don't know...this is such a tough decision...I must not be cut out for this election stealing business.