I didn't like voting electronically!! Sorry-long

[AprilShowers]

Yesterday afternoon I went to cast my ballot. After waiting in line only five minutes, I was given a credit card looking device and pointed to a computer screen with a VERY MINIMAL privacy guard on each side. It was only about 10" tall.

These screens were VERY close together, and mine was right next to the door. Before I voted, a lady let her teen/pre-teen daughters go to the screen with her. ( can't even call it a voting booth!) While I think it's awesome to let kids get involved in the political process, what I saw next really upset me! One of them was looking over the shoulder of the older woman in the "booth" next to them!!!

Sure enough, I get the "booth" on the other side of them. So I'm between nosy girls and the greeter at the door. The greeter greeted everyone loudly, told them which line to get into and reminded them they MUST turn off all cell phones. She was practically yelling right into my ear. This is how close we were. (I actually put my right finger into my ear while I was reading one of the issues because I couldn't concentrate otherwise!)

I was so paranoid about nosy girls, and so distracted by yelling lady that I voted as fast as I could and got the heck out of there!!

I really miss the booths with curtains, or at least the punch card ones with taller "privacy walls".

 

[mamacatnv]

We had the same style of machine. Sorry you had an uncomfortable experience, they didn't bother me at all. If you are not standing at the right angle to the machine you can't see the screen anyway, maybe that is why the privacy screens are so small since the person next to you can't read your screen. I'm not sure, just guessing.

I took my DD 10 and my BFF's DD 11. I purposefully chose a booth on a corner and the girls looked over my shoulder. I would not have allowed them to peer over someone elses shoulder, that is rude.

I guess I don't have a strong need for that much privacy and am not concerned if someone see's who/what I am voting for. It never occurred to me to be bothered.

 

[jbdreamer]

I guess I don't have a strong need for that much privacy and am not concerned if someone see's who/what I am voting for. It never occurred to me to be bothered.

I agree, I never understood the reason for curtains/booths. Why does it need to be a secret about who you are supporting?

Our polls had booths to fill in your ballet, or tables you could just sit at and get it done more quickly, but with no privacy.

 

[momrek06]

We had a choice between electronic or paper ballots...I went with electronic as I had never voted like that before. It was a learning experience and thought it was really awesome. My one DS in MA says they are still voting w/paper where he lives and my one DS out here in CA voted absentee. It did take some time to grasp as I was reading and reading everything. Our location also had volunteers walking around if you had questions.

No curtains, but quite frankly, if someone was looking over my shoulder I would not have noticed, I was so busy reading the ballot with all the "Propositions" and "Measures" on it here in CA.

CA sent everyone a paper ballot with all the info you need. I saw many people had filled that ballot out at home and brought it to the booth and just copied that over...made the process go faster.

 

[AprilShowers]

I guess I don't have a strong need for that much privacy and am not concerned if someone see's who/what I am voting for. It never occurred to me to be bothered.

I guess it bugs me a little more because it's a small town. Everyone knows everyone, and we are small business owners. We are very careful not to discuss politics either way so as not to offend ANY customers or potential customers.

A diner in the next town over put an Obama sign in their window, and some customers stopped going there!! Can you imagine? It made the papers, there was some scuttlebut over it.

Thanks for the reassurance about the screens though. I kinda did figure that you could only see them from directly in front. Just call me paranoid!!

 

[olena]

Yesterday afternoon I went to cast my ballot. After waiting in line only five minutes, I was given a credit card looking device and pointed to a computer screen with a VERY MINIMAL privacy guard on each side. It was only about 10" tall.

These screens were VERY close together, and mine was right next to the door. Before I voted, a lady let her teen/pre-teen daughters go to the screen with her. ( can't even call it a voting booth!) While I think it's awesome to let kids get involved in the political process, what I saw next really upset me! One of them was looking over the shoulder of the older woman in the "booth" next to them!!!

Sure enough, I get the "booth" on the other side of them. So I'm between nosy girls and the greeter at the door. The greeter greeted everyone loudly, told them which line to get into and reminded them they MUST turn off all cell phones. She was practically yelling right into my ear. This is how close we were. (I actually put my right finger into my ear while I was reading one of the issues because I couldn't concentrate otherwise!)

I was so paranoid about nosy girls, and so distracted by yelling lady that I voted as fast as I could and got the heck out of there!!

I really miss the booths with curtains, or at least the punch card ones with taller "privacy walls".

I don't miss the punch-card ballots one bit. With machines, I can vote without assistance, thanks to the large print option. Where I used to live, I had my Dad help me vote on the old systems. After marrying and moving, I wanted to have my husband assist me, but they said it had to be one of them. That made me mad. I trust my husband to vote the way I tell him a lot more than a total stranger who may have ulterior motives. The new machines have eliminated the issue for me.

The big down-side though is that the big print is like a beacon to anyone beside or near me, which I don't like. Our machines were a little crammed together and the little privacy walls are inadequate for their purpose. I would love to have that booth back but with a machine.

 

[clarabelle]

I guess it bugs me a little more because it's a small town. Everyone knows everyone, and we are small business owners. We are very careful not to discuss politics either way so as not to offend ANY customers or potential customers.

A diner in the next town over put an Obama sign in their window, and some customers stopped going there!! Can you imagine? It made the papers, there was some scuttlebut over it.

Thanks for the reassurance about the screens though. I kinda did figure that you could only see them from directly in front. Just call me paranoid!!

I like the machines. But I wanted to tell you I understand your need for privacy. I don't want people to know who I voted for for the same reasons you said -my husband is a business owner and I don't want people getting turned off by politics.

 

[Brianne]

I was glad our county got rid of the touchscreen voting this year for many of the reasons you listed. We went back to paper ballots with optical scanners, with nifty felt tip pens.

Of course, this being Florida, we still couldn't get it completely right---some precincts accidently gave only 1 of the 2 pages needed to vote, and some places ended up with ballots that couldn't be scanned because of the ink bleeding through. Maybe someday we'll finally learn how to vote here?

 

[Laura]

Oh, that would annoy me too! I have a deaf ear and a working ear, so getting the working one shouted into is awful.

It's very important that people are able to vote privately and secretly. Voter intimidation isn't a joke. I'm not secretive about how I cast my vote, but I understand completely why others are that way.

 

[mamacatnv]

We had a choice between electronic or paper ballots...I went with electronic as I had never voted like that before. It was a learning experience and thought it was really awesome. My one DS in MA says they are still voting w/paper where he lives and my one DS out here in CA voted absentee. It did take some time to grasp as I was reading and reading everything. Our location also had volunteers walking around if you had questions.

No curtains, but quite frankly, if someone was looking over my shoulder I would not have noticed, I was so busy reading the ballot with all the "Propositions" and "Measures" on it here in CA.

CA sent everyone a paper ballot with all the info you need. I saw many people had filled that ballot out at home and brought it to the booth and just copied that over...made the process go faster.

I always have my sample ballot completed when I arrive - it makes the process so much easier since the electronic screens follow the ballot. I also try not to growl at the person that didn't bring one or worse hasn't done their homework and will spend forever reading the ballot measures......ugh......grrrrrrrr

I guess it bugs me a little more because it's a small town. Everyone knows everyone, and we are small business owners. We are very careful not to discuss politics either way so as not to offend ANY customers or potential customers.

A diner in the next town over put an Obama sign in their window, and some customers stopped going there!! Can you imagine? It made the papers, there was some scuttlebut over it.

Thanks for the reassurance about the screens though. I kinda did figure that you could only see them from directly in front. Just call me paranoid!!

That makes sense and I see your concern. The poor people who owned that diner, that IMO is wrong. One of our rights is the right to vote, I don't care who someone votes for as long as they vote and I certainly would never hold a grudge either way, that IMO is stupid. But, some people are ignorant.

I know my DD and friend could not see the screen unless they were standing right in front of it, thankfully they are short. I'm sure that was how they were designed but heck, call your Registrar and let them know your concerns.

Having done paper with punches and paper with fill in circles I truly like the electronic system. It is easy to manuever, easy to read and I love the summary that is printed plus it tells me if I left something blank and then it prints the blanks out it red just in case I missed them. IMO the electronic devices have in some ways idiot proofed the process.

 

[Chicago526]

That just sounds like a bad design OP. We have electronic voting in my county and you'd have to rest your chin on the voter's sholder to be able to look at the screen while voting, due to the design of the privacy "tent" that surounds the voting machine. And at least at my precinct, the booths were as far away from the door as possible, and the polls workers kept the noise to a minimum. Complain to your county board of elections, they may not be able to do much about the machines but maybe they can lay them out better next time and better train the poll volunteers.

 

[wilderness01]

I liked the electronic machine but I did have privacy (space) on either side. Sorry your experience wasn't good.

 

[OK!]

I used the touchscreen machine as well, but I liked it. It was much faster (IMO) and our machines were probably 2-3 feet apart, so anyone "peeking" would have been really obvious.

It really came in handy on the page where you vote whether or not to keep the sitting judges in place; I was all, "Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam! Next page!"

 

[Pin Wizard]

Why on earth isn't everyone voting with the same method during an election? I had the hanging chads in FL, I had the touch screen the next time around in FL. I don't remember what we had in 2004 here. And yesterday it was paper ballots and we used a felt tip pen to color in the bubbles. When is this going to be done online and have everything recorded with the elections people immediately?

 

[hellokitty86]

Sorry about your bad experience!

I thought this was strange- in 2004 we had electronic voting where you pressed your selections on the screen and this year (at the same polling location) we had the paper ballots and after bubbling in our selections we feed the papers in a machine where they were counted. I think I prefer the electronic but as long as my vote is counted it doesn't really matter!

 

[Debbie7452]

Oh, that would annoy me too! I have a deaf ear and a working ear, so getting the working one shouted into is awful.

It's very important that people are able to vote privately and secretly. Voter intimidation isn't a joke. I'm not secretive about how I cast my vote, but I understand completely why others are that way.

Hi , I am also deaf in one ear, so the working one is super sensitive. It's great to meet someone who shares my affliction! Sometimes isn't it just the most annoying thing?

As far as the OP goes...I like voting privacy and think it should be offered to those who need it to feel comfortable. Next time, go for early voting...it was quick, quiet, and awesome in my town. Of course, I had to bring my 2 year old with me who wanted to press all of the cool buttons (e-slates here)

 

[OK!]

Why on earth isn't everyone voting with the same method during an election? I had the hanging chads in FL, I had the touch screen the next time around in FL. I don't remember what we had in 2004 here. And yesterday it was paper ballots and we used a felt tip pen to color in the bubbles. When is this going to be done online and have everything recorded with the elections people immediately?

I'm thinking that as of right now, the reason it's not online is most likely a security / election integrity issue. Whoever manages to come up with a foolproof method of getting everything done online is going to end up a very wealthy (not to mention popular) person!

 

[PlainJane]

I don't remember the hight of the privacy walls on mine, but the machines were so far apart from each other, there would have been no way to peek.

While I'm quite open about who I voted for (I'm a Political Science major, so I get asked all the time), I completely understand why others want to keep that info private.

 

[Michelle67]

There should be privacy in voting because that's just the way it is supposed to be. For one thing, it allows for the voice of dissent to be heard without fear of retribution by the majority. Things can get nasty sometimes, we all know that. Everyone should be able to vote their conscience without having to worry about being harrassed.

I didn't vote electronically, but they did have one electronic voting machine available at our tiny polling place. What I noticed about it was that it seemed to take people a LOT longer to vote on it than it took those of us who opted for the little black pen and a booth.

As for privacy, just an aside; there were a lot of people at our little polling place that didn't feel like waiting for a booth so they just filled out their ballots sitting in chairs near the tables where they got the ballots. Their choice to do so...but it should be 100% by choice if you don't want to vote privately.