Do you trust our voting machines?

[NewJersey]

I don't. And reports from the SC Republican Primary and varied reports in states voting today reaffirm my unease.

Latest I heard is that some polling stations in Los Angeles, CA never received voting machines.

It's a disgrace that the USA can't even get an election off smoothly - every vote should be backed up by a verifiable paper trail, no questions asked.

 

[mmcguire]

Absolutely not. I work in IT, and there are ALWAYS glitches, unforeseen issues, connection problems, etc. There is no way a network of different types of machines on different networks, locations, etc. could run smoothly all the time.

 

[agentpleakley]

Saw the title of your post and had to respond.

No, I don't trust them at all. I had more faith in the old system -- I think it would be easier to manipulate a computer program. In my county, not one election has run off without a glitch in the computer system.

Also, I thought it quite odd that after our last county election where the corrupt sheriff was re-elected by an enormous margin even though his opponent had wide spread county support - the election commissioner's son was given a promotion to lieutenant a few weeks after the election -- just makes me go hmmmm.

 

[Honu]

In my area, I trust it. We've bailed on the touchscreens and now mark papers ballots to scan through a machine. Over all though, I'm less confident. It's an area we definitely need to get our act together on.

 

[debbi801]

I don't. And reports from the SC Republican Primary and varied reports in states voting today reaffirm my unease.

Latest I heard is that some polling stations in Los Angeles, CA never received voting machines.

It's a disgrace that the USA can't even get an election off smoothly - every vote should be backed up by a verifiable paper trail, no questions asked.

Nope. Not in the slightest. Like you, I want a verifiable paper trail. I had a friend who campaigned tirelessly for that. Sadly, he passed away. As I'm hearing about all the glitches (yet again), I cannot stop thinking about him and the necessity of a verifiable paper trail.

 

[golfgal]

We still fill in the ovals on a paper ballot that is scanned through a reader. It works fine, never heard about any glitches in past years with this system. Schools and national testing sites have used similar systems for years and years without major issue.

 

[NewJersey]

Nope. Not in the slightest. Like you, I want a verifiable paper trail. I had a friend who campaigned tirelessly for that. Sadly, he passed away. As I'm hearing about all the glitches (yet again), I cannot stop thinking about him and the necessity of a verifiable paper trail.

I would love a little receipt that prints out that tells you who you voted for and also a copy that is kept locked inside the ballot machine (or something like that) which can be used to verify the vote as well.

 

[barbeml]

I would love a little receipt that prints out that tells you who you voted for and also a copy that is kept locked inside the ballot machine (or something like that) which can be used to verify the vote as well.

Sounds good to me.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I don't. And reports from the SC Republican Primary and varied reports in states voting today reaffirm my unease.

Latest I heard is that some polling stations in Los Angeles, CA never received voting machines.

It's a disgrace that the USA can't even get an election off smoothly - every vote should be backed up by a verifiable paper trail, no questions asked.

ITA.

Now that it is done with computers, it is pretty much over. Easy to fix.

I'm absolutely sure we'll have an election old-fashioned Chicago style. Someone's machines won't work and they'll wait until all the votes are in, find out how many they need, and (surprise, surprise) they'll have just a few over that when the machines work again.

 

[Fitswimmer]

I heard there were problems this morning in Hoboken. A little embarassing because Gov. Corzine was there to vote at the time.

I had really hoped that after the disaster that was 2000 we would have some kind of national reform.

 

[debbi801]

Here in Maryland, there's been lots of controversy about the Diebold touch screen systems and how easy they are to "fix." http://www.truevotemd.org/Press_releases/html/2005-03-08_Press_Release.html

Lucky for us the current governor is trying to do something about it. http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/21/187253&from=rss Sadly, it is still several years away, so it won't help in this election.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Why I don't always think the voting machines are the problem? Sometimes, but not always. Stories like these:

http://www.ksat.com/politics/15220830/detail.html

More than 1,000 calls poured into the Bexar County Elections Department on Monday from voters wanting to know where they could vote in Tuesday's primary.

Problem is -- Texas isn't holding a primary on Tuesday, like more than 20 states are.

"The voters think they're actually going to the polls (Tuesday) because it's Super Tuesday," said Bexar County Elections Commissioner Jacque Callanen. "It's all over the national media and the local media that there's a big election."

Callanen added that voters in Bexar County can begin voting early for the Texas Primary on Feb. 19.

Election Day is March 4.

 

[JR6ooo4]

lets put it this way.

I trust them much more than the people I am voting for. And those are the ones I am voting for. Not my lesser choices!

Mikeeee

 

[eclectics]

I'm so used to the old fashioned lever types I used in New York for so many years, which I trusted, btw. I don't even know what type they use here in Pennsylvania. Hopefully they won't be Diebolds. Those I don't trust. I'll find out in April!

 

[Diva of Dragons]

No.

Did you ever see the movie "Man of the year"? I know, it's just a movie, but it illustrates how even the smallest miscalculation or bug can create false results.

I'm still going vote but I hope I get receipt!

 

[Disney Ella]

With all of the computer technology, I don't understand why we can't just vote from our home computers, using a pin code or some other identifier. Then we wouldn't have to have voting machines and worry about them not working correctly. I know things can still go wrong with computers but it would make it easier to vote and more people might actually do it. And there could still be a few places set up for those without computers to vote.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

I would love a little receipt that prints out that tells you who you voted for and also a copy that is kept locked inside the ballot machine (or something like that) which can be used to verify the vote as well.

I feel this way too. I'm not totally comfortable with the machines, and there is no paper back up.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I've gt an idea. Maybe Congress could appoint a bipartisan task force to examine voting procedures and irregularities. This should probably be done at the state level, but would seem that some states are not getting it done.

 

[pearlieq]

I've actually gotten a pretty intimate look at the election process locally and I'm reasonably confident.

Paper ballots have their own set of problems, just like electronic voting. Our electonic voting has a scantron-type voting. Another local government does the touch screen voting, but each machine does print out the vote on paper.

Either way, I'm as satisfied as possible with the process and I believe it's not perfect, but fundamentally reliable.

 

[NewJersey]

I feel this way too. I'm not totally comfortable with the machines, and there is no paper back up.

The guy couldn't even work the machine this morning. It took him a couple of times for him to even get the machine to light up.