LAT: November E-Vote a Success, Panel Says (Spin Alert!)

November E-Vote a Success, Panel Says

O.C. Grand Jury studied the new election method after problems with it surfaced during the March 2004 primary

By David Haldane

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 03 March 2005

Voters have largely accepted Orange County's electronic voting system, which saw its first presidential election in November, the county grand jury concluded in a report issued Wednesday.

-snip-

Among their findings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being best, most voters said their satisfaction with electronic voting rated an 8 or 9.

The only major negative finding, in fact, had to do with the variety of paper ballots also available to voters, which "complicated the counting process" and caused a 22-day delay in arriving at final results, the report concluded. "These allowed opportunities for error and a potential to weaken voter confidence."

Among the jury's recommendations: County officials should publish a comparison of the costs of electronic balloting versus paper; explore the possibility of combining the various voting methods in future elections; and address mechanical difficulties encountered in processing paper ballots.

-snip/more-

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=4922

Data from:

https://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapCounty&tab=ALL&state=California&county=Orange&cat=02&start_time=&start_date=&end_time=&end_date=&search=&go=Apply+filter


Bolded snarks have been added.


033271 11/02/04, 7:48 AM PST Machine problem Pacific Coast Community Church, 17581 Newland Street, Huntington Beach, Orange County, California Caller called to report machine problems in CA: Orange County. All of the voting machines at the polling place are broken and one of the poll workers called in sick, so they are understaffed. No one seems to know what to do to fix the machines. Caller had to wait for an hour to vote, even though she was 6th in line. Caller was able to vote using a paper ballot, but she heard the poll workers say that they would not have enough paper ballots for the entire day if the machines are not fixed. Caller has been voting there for 10 years.


033722 11/02/04, 8:15 AM PST Machine problem 18110 MAGNOLIA ST, FOUNTAIN VALLEY, 92708, FOUNTAIN VALLEY, ORANGE County, California SHE AND HUSBAND HAD PROBLEM WITH VOTING MACHINE. USING MACHINE WITH ROTARY WHEEL. INSTRUCTIONS ARE UNCLEAR ABOUT ID NUMBERS. PEOPLE ARE USING MACHINES WRONG. Four problems:

1) first person directing people directly to booth rather than to person # 2, when in fact in the Hart Intercivic sytem, person # 2 is the required pitstop for submitting the first code number as a condition of issuance of a second 4 digit code;

2) if someone's first 4-digit code coincides with a valid second four digit code, this voter and her husband are concerned that someone could vote with the first four digit code (betting the odds that it might work) and THEN get his/her true four-digit code and vote a secdon time with that one;

3) 1 machine is saying "battery" and might die; and

4) summary page did not show 62 (went from 61 to 63) the first time he rolled through but then once he confirmed he had votged re: 62, he rolled through again and only then did it show.


039609 11/02/04, 12:09 PM PST Machine problem; Other ballot-related problem Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center, 24932 Veteran Way, Mission Viejo, Mission Viejo, Orange County, California Voted for Pres and Senator, and wanted to make the machine go to the next candidate or office, and instead of pressing "next," she pressed "cast ballot" button; she wanted to vote for the remaining candidates and propositions, but was told she was done and there was nothing that could be done. Her daughter, the caller, does not believe there were sufficient instructions in the booth to convey that the "cast ballot" button would mean the voter could not vote for any further candidates or propositions. The instructions should inform the voter that the "cast ballot" will prevent any further votes from being recorded. This is especially a problem with seniors, which her mother is (83 yrs old); machine itself lacks instructions, although the printed voter guide does contain them.


040410 11/02/04, 12:09 PM PST Machine problem Sierra Vista Apartments/Clubhouse, 2955 Champion Way, Tustin, CA 92782, Tustin, Orange County County, California She entered ever vote in each screen, including president, then once she got to the final stage where she reviews all of the votes, she saw that the president vote was missing, and had to redo her vote for president. (Let me guess who she was voting for.)

043590 11/02/04, 2:13 PM PST Machine problem; Other ballot-related problem Palmyra elementary school, Orange County, California Caller saw official cancel out votes on the electronic machines because voter forgot to press the red button. Officialk cancelled the votes after the voters had already left. (Hmmmm. Ballot Destruction?)

048975 11/02/04, 5:43 PM PST Voter Intimidation; Machine problem Huntington Beach, Orange County County, California Huntington Beach polling place harassed him for demanding a paper ballot. It told him that it would take forever. He demanded to vote anyway. But he is angry that they could not verify his ballot. (A true patriot!)


050700 11/02/04, 7:47 PM PST Machine problem Maxwell School/ Magnolia and Orange, Anaheim, Orange County County, California Voted electronically and when he reviewed the summary page, his vote for president had been cleared out. However, he was able to correct the problem. He stated that other people at his location were having trouble with the Spanish language machine voting. (Let me guess, again. Oh, they're Hispanic. That narrows the odds.)