Touch-Screen Danger: Slow Voting, Long Lines (FL)

If voters on Election Day spend the same amount of time casting ballots as some early voters have, South Florida polling places could be overwhelmed Nov. 2 with long lines that drag into the night, frustrated voters and delays in reporting election returns.

On Election Day in Miami-Dade, at least 516,000 voters are expected at the polls to vote on 6,466 machines. That means each machine, on average, must accommodate 80 voters throughout the day.

Yet, when The Herald monitored 14 machines during a consistently busy two-hour period of early voting, the process moved more slowly. At the pace observed, nearly six voters an hour, only 71 people per machine would vote by the normal closing time on Election Day.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10000065.htm

This could be very bad, especially with an unexpectedly large voter turnout. Anyone in Florida should really consider voting early!

and the one thing I did notice is you have to make sure you hit the spot right on the screen with your finger. That makes things a bit slower, it doesn't move on til it feels your finger make a selection. I don't know why but I had to hit twice on more than one candidate or question on the ballot. We have new Sequoias throughout Nevada that were used in the primaries with little hassles. We can make it print a hardcopy that we get to see, too. Also, if you want to change your mind you can hit back and change your vote and it lets you verify alot. Just a bit slow.

almost every one of these places have used the machines before and should know the amount of time per voter.... WTF

nt

I got in line at 4:55, 5 minutes before the polls closed, with about 80-90 people in front of me. It took just under 50 minutes. We use the paper ballots though, that you mark with a pen.

Slowest lines, can't be verified, easy for the company to rig, easy to get bugs in the software.

That's the only way to get a decent election. You get your ballot, you fill it out in 5 minutes (provided you know the Measure issues), and pop it in the mail or drop box. Waiting over an hour to vote is ridiculous and completely unnecessary. No wonder we don't get the poor out to vote, they don't have time for this. Unbelievable.

Trashed at the office?

I'm actually even against early voting, only because I don't trust certain areas not to pre-count so they have an idea of how many additional votes they need.

Paper ballots were disposed of in FL in 2000.

I would think that it would be critical for Florida Democrats to monitor the polls at Democratic precincts versus GOP precincts to see if there is a substantial difference in the way the citizens are allowed to vote. For example, if the polls at Democratic precincts do not allow for timely voting given historic levels of turnout when compared with GOP precincts, then this is exactly the sort of equal protection issue that vaulted Bush to the White House in the first place.

In fact, why aren't suits already being filed to protect voters in these urban precincts from this abuse already? Or are long lines going to be the order of the day everywhere in Florida.

is having a huge turnout. For several years the voting in my community was done in the Clubhouse. It's a nice big Clubhouse with lots and lots of parking places. This year our voting precinct was changed to a different place. The guy behind the change, the guy who got it moved from this BIG Clubhouse that happens to be right across the street from me, and who had it moved to this 4 cars at time only parking tiny building a couple miles away, is a fundamentalist "Hi! I'm Tony K. and I'm a christian" republican wack job that got voted in on our board because no one else wanted the job. See what happens when you're not paying attention!

In other words, there are several of us now trying to get the word out to everyone that their polling place has been changed. It is on their new cards if they have received them and if they were paying attention. Again, we voted at this Clubhouse for many, many years. There are hundreds of very senior citizens in this neighborhood. Some might not vote for the simple reason that it has been made much more difficult than in the past. Not a good reason of course, but these people are very used to routine. We are offering any help that is needed to get to the polls EARLY.

IF a good number of our neighbors wait until Nov 2nd to vote, they will find no parking places and long, long lines for those willing to park possibly blocks away and try to walk. Again, these are not people who can walk or stand long periods of time.

This is just one of the many ways that republicans are trying to surpress even a few votes here and there to counter what, in this county, will be a major victory for Kerry.

Especially the elderly. These machines are going to confuse them, scare them, frustrate them. Now guess how long it's going to take to get everyone through the line. I wonder how many people are not going to be able to vote because there won't be enough time to get them all through the doors before the polls close?