West Va.: “I hit Obama and it switched to McCain."

[bigtree]

Oct. 23, 2008 – Three Putnam Co., West Va., voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.

This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem.

Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for “Barack Obama” kept flipping to “John McCain.”

In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated. They also blamed voters for not being more careful.

The voters disagree.

“I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican,” said Shelba Ketchum, a 69-year-old retired nurse. “I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.”

Another voter said he asked for a printout, but was refused.

There is no word on how the disputes would be resolved.


http://www.bet.com/News/Decision08/NewsArticlePoliticsVotingMachinesChangingVotes.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished&Referrer={0471DDF0-D0D8-48A8-9E30-ADD40CBE0269}

[Chimichurri]

1. Why isn't everyone in an uproar over this? This should be a huge

deal and investigated immediately. Why haven't I heard of anyone, including Obama's camp addressing this at all?


It's so infuriating.

[bigtree]

2. I wouldn't think that this will escape the campaign's notice.

. . . a few more e-mails to the campaign wouldn't hurt :)

[malaise]

3. I agree

We would not accept ATMs that worked like this. No one will convince me that this is not deliberate.

[bigtree]

4. here's something from our David Swanson

Thousands of Citizens Write West Virginia Officials to Urge Machines That Flip Votes Be Taken Out of Service

Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2008-10-23 04:59.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/37049

TrueVote.US along with other members of the No More Stolen Elections campaign is urging citizens to write elected officials in West Virginia, including the Secretary of State and Governor, asking them to take machines that flipped votes out of circulation.

“Recalibrating the machines is not sufficient if there is an underlying software problem. In Sarasota, FL in 2006 they also used the iVotroinc system and saw the same problems, votes switched and voters finding it difficult to vote, but when it came to counting the vote they realized that was only the tip of the iceberg. On 18,000 ballots the congressional race was blank. This was the top race in the election and those missing votes determined the outcome. It made no sense that the voters would come to the polls and leave the top race empty,” said Kevin Zeese, executive director of TrueVote.US.

“It is not worth risking the legitimacy of the West Virginia election by keeping machines that are showing faulty operation in service. It is better to be safe and remove those machines so people can have greater confidence in the outcome of the election,” said Zeese. The e-alert goes on to urge the state to prepare for a hand counted paper ballot election if machines continue to falter.

Below is the email alert TrueVote.US sent to its members that has resulted in more than one thousand citizens writing West Virginia officials in the first few hours after it was sent. “We should be pleased to see that citizens want their democracy to be trustworthy,” noted Zeese.

# # #

Subject: Take Action to Stop Vote Flipping in West Virginia

Every day there are reports from voters of machines flipping the vote. So far, all the reports have been votes changing from Obama to McCain. Click here to take action.

This is reminiscent of the experience in Sarasota, FL in 2006. When the voting was completed and they counted the vote, they discovered that the vote flipping was the tip of the iceberg. The machines, the iVotronic - the same ones being used in West Virginia, had 18,000 blank ballets. This was enough to change the outcome of the election. Election officials were unable to reconstruct the race. For more on this see "Vote Flipping with the iVotronic the Florida 2006 Experience" at http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=363 which includes a comment by an election integrity advocate in Sarasota as well as links to reports, including from the U.S. GAO, on the 18,000 lost votes.

We are demanding that the state remove any machine that reportedly flips the vote or resists taking voter's choices. Such machines should be immediately removed. Voters should not be forced to vote on a machine that shows intermittent or continuous misalignment. These problems can be a sign of fraudulent software or hardware this is not likely to be corrected by recalibration of the machine.

Further, if the problems continue the state should be preparing for a paper ballot election with hand counts. At this late stage of the game that is the only alternative that seems possible.


take action at ADS: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1331/t/6410/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26124

[Chimichurri]

5. This makes me feel better. I hope those who need this in WV can find it.

[bigtree]

6. The Brad Blog is covering these incidents

And It Begins Again: Touch-Screen Votes Flipping From Dem to Rep in WV--

Votes for Obama Switching to McCain in Early Voting in Jackson County
UPDATE: Now Putnam County, WV Reports Votes Flipping D to R as Well...\

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6528

[joeunderdog]

7. kik

[Chulanowa]

8. And that's how they do it

They flip votes in places that are usually considered "red." West Virginia, rural Ohio. Voters in traditional Republican strongholds are the ones bound to get screwed.

[Ilsa]

9. This is disgusting. The GOP can't win unless they cheat. They love to cheat.

They feel completely justified in doing it and then saying it was "God's will." Assholes.

[MiniMe]

10. As others have stated, I'll believe it is "user" error as soon as they report

that a vote flipped from McCain to Obama