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Election Officials Fail to Check Ballot Validity PDF Print E-mail
Written by Leigh Ann Caldwell   
Tuesday, 05 February 2008 12:45
February 5 - Interview
produced by Leigh Ann Caldwell
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Most states use optical scan voting machines, up from just 25 percent of states in 1996. Brad Friedman with Bradblog.com says problems can sometimes be avoided if election officials actually checked the paper ballots with the electronic print out.

Friedman says New Hampshire, which voted in the primaries in early January, failed to match the paper version of the ballot with the electronic version. A phenomenon common in most states. Friedman says California has the highest standards of any state in the country and they only check 1 percent of ballots.

voting machine verification But optic scan machines aren't the only problem. Five states voting in Super Tuesday - Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and Delaware - use electronic touch screen voting machines. State election officials require no paper trail and no audit which means that once a person votes, that vote lies with the fate of the computer, no back up is offered.

In 2004, 40 percent of voters used these touch screen voting machines. But proof that the system is unreliable has caused a backlash. California, Maryland, Ohio, and Florida are all in the process of banning the machines. States will likely turn to the optical scan voting machines.

 
Comments (2)
Laughable - "faith based" voting machine worries
1 Thursday, 07 February 2008 15:21
Christos LeBon
Brad,

I am writing to invite you to the 21st century. It's real great!

When you need cash do you go inside the bank, fill out a withdrawal slip, and then wait in line to be called to the counter? I go to a computer and get my cash in a lot less time.

Now I don't have any great studies by CalTech or MIT to back up my theory, but I have a pretty good idea about what happens when you have long voting lines and humans trying to judge the validity of a dimpled vs. hanging chad.

Join me!
Clearly you don't have any studies...
2 Tuesday, 19 February 2008 23:45
Brad Friedman
You should read them. They are written by the world's foremost computer scientists & security experts. They disagree with you. I'll go with them.

If you want long lines at the polls, then be sure to use E-Voting machines. That's what causes them in almost every case.

Finally, though punchcards are not used anymore, at least you had something to fight about with hanging chads. When your invisible e-ballot hangs, you'll never know it.

But ignorance for some, apparently, may be bliss.

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