USA Today: Election glitches 'could get ugly'(voting equip..Diebold & ESS)

[RedEarth]

WASHINGTON — Eight weeks before elections that will decide control of Congress, a rush by state and local governments to prepare new voting machines and train poll workers is raising the possibility of trouble reminiscent of the 2000 presidential election standoff. Problems range from delayed delivery of new equipment to an insufficient supply of trained technicians to fix anticipated problems, voting experts say.

Already this year, glitches have occurred in Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. Maryland became the latest on Tuesday, when technical problems, human errors and staff shortages led officials to keep some polls open an extra hour.

The fall elections shape up as the most technologically perilous since 2000, election officials say, because 30% of the nation's voting jurisdictions will be using new equipment. They include large parts of Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, scenes of key Senate races. "If you're ever going to have a problem, it's going to be that first election," says Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Services.

Since 2000, nearly half of U.S. counties have switched from punch cards, lever machines and paper ballots to electronic voting or optical-scan ballots read by a computer. They continue to rely on poll workers who are on average 72 years old and lack computer experience.

Since 2002, the federal government has given states $3 billion to upgrade registration and voting systems. Some states, however, still don't have statewide voter registration databases or equipment that people with disabilities can use independently.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-13-election-glitches_x.htm

[valerief]

1. When the neocon election officials take them on overnight

trips, they must remember that these machines only want to cuddle.

[bdamomma]

2. these people are just asking for it, aren't they?

maybe everyone should vote on absentee ballot.

and this piece of information in the article is why more young people have to get involved with the election process.

"They continue to rely on poll workers who are on average 72 years old and lack computer experience".

WHAT BS.

[elocs]

5. Senior citizen polls workers are very common here.

I have often been among the first to vote where I live and these people do not inspire confidence. They don't seem to know what is going on at the beginning or the end and the newer the equipment is, the more it befuddles them. That's not to say that all are that way, but it does appear to be common and is probably in other places also. Other than retired people, there don't appear to be many who are free to work at the polls during the day on a Tuesday. I also think that people of that generation are more respectful, subservient, and trusting concerning authority and so may be more easily manipulated by those doing funny business.

[razors edge]

6. USA today owned by

same company that publishes army times, navy times, airforce times,
just more propaganda being catapulted.

[Kablooie]

3. It'll give the GOP plenty of elections to contest.

This election won't be settled for 18 year.

[AX10]

4. K & R!