Voting machine tinkering issue

[rickh]

Here is just one article about the supposed tinkering going on with voting machines.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/27/watchdog-warns-seiu-contract-nevada-voting-machines-poses-fraud-concern/

I ask in here this question, because you guys know more about how they might work than me....

1. Is this possible? Can they have the machine select #2 when you pick #1 or #3?

[stayouttadabunker]

I think somebody's been messing around with the configuration
of the thing-a-ma-jig underneath the switcheroo...

[rickh]

thats what I thought....

[a69mopar]

It would be highly unlikely that the techs would be able to alter the software on the machines.  The whole idea sounds crazy since any individual that is involved or refuses at any point could "rat" them out.  Trusting that many people would be an issue for anyone and the payoff wouldn't be worth it.


2 cents

Thanks,
Wayne

[StatFreak]

It would be highly unlikely that the techs would be able to alter the software on the machines.  The whole idea sounds crazy since any individual that is involved or refuses at any point could "rat" them out.  Trusting that many people would be an issue for anyone and the payoff wouldn't be worth it.


2 cents

Thanks,
Wayne

That's basically how banking security works as well. All cash and cash equivalents (cashier's checks, etc.) are held in double custody at all times, and the pairs of people involved switch off. This method not only works to prevent dishonesty, it also protects honest employees, since they always have another witness should something turn up missing or out of balance.

The more people involved in the "chain of custody", whether it be cash, software, or voting ballots, the harder it becomes for someone to manipulate things.

That being said, I can understand why there would be concern that the union would put undo pressure on their members to do something unethical. I don't see how it could hurt to have extra security involved.

Buy finally, it's really up to each voter to be responsible and to double check their votes before submitting the ballot. I've always done this. I even pull the card to make sure that the marked numbers match the numbers in the voter pamphlet. I'm not sure what their system is (below), but telling voters to review their choices is good advice at any time.

...
The SEIU said that voters, to ensure the accuracy of their selections, should use the machines' "fail-safe system" to review their picks before leaving the polling station.

[rickh]

agreed... we should double check any card or ballot. I was thinking these are all electric....no paper.

[knagl]

In Nevada, a paper copy of the voting is generated and has to be reviewed and approved by the voter for their votes to be submitted.  Even IF there was a candidate "pre selected", the voter would have to confirm that selection before the vote would be cast.

It wasn't really mentioned clearly in this article, but in another article I read about it, it stated that of the 160,000 people who had voted with those machines for this election, not a single one had said anything to an election judge or staff member at the polling place -- instead, they contacted the local media only to register their complaint.  It all smells to me like an attempt by one group to scream "voter fraud!" when their candidate doesn't win.

[rickh]

yep, that crossed my mind too.... replay of Florida and the hanging chads.

[stayouttadabunker]

Oh! I remember when Stat was checking out his hanging chad last time...

[StatFreak]

Oh! I remember when Stat was checking out his hanging chad last time...

    Actually, we kicked Chad out a long time ago. Our ballets are marked in ink with small round punch stamps that fit in the holes.

[rickhunter]

You could still do "minor" things like purposely mis-calibrate the touchscreen by a few offsets.  This would result in obviously incorrect input.  But as has been pointed out here, people should really double-check their printed ballot before submitting the votes, it just makes sense (of course in today's society, nothing seems to make sense.)

[StatFreak]

... (of course in today's society, nothing seems to make sense.)

That makes sense.     

[Joeylc]

I Just got this email ...   hmmmmmm  

Pre-calibrated Voting Machines to Vote for Harry Reid


SEIU Controls Voting Machines in Clark County! SEIU Supports Harry Reid!


The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has given $88 million in union dues taken from their members to bankroll the Democratic midterm election campaigns across the country. AND the SEIU is the SOLE union representative for the voting machine technicians in Clark County, Nevada. Thus, it is no surprise that there was a “voting glitch� in Clark County.
 
The “glitchâ€� caused Harry Reid’s name to be automatically checked on the ballot before voters had indicated who were they were supporting.  So how is the SEIU allowed to represent the voting machine technicians in Clark County, Nevada? And since it has been reported that there was a “voting glitchâ€�, that is a question that no one has been able to answer.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Clark County put the SEIU Local 1107 in charge of their voting machines. The Democrats are claiming that is it just a coincidence that the voting machines in Clark County just happen to be automatically set to support the candidate that the union supports. Is it also a coincidence that this “voting glitch� occurred in the same county where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s son is a county commissioner?
 
Secretary of State Ross Miller said of the glitch: ". . . Neither will I stand by and allow the public's confidence in the electoral system (to) be undermined by unsubstantiated rumors and allegations.�
 
Unsubstantiated? Rumors? Clark County Registrar of Voters, Larry Lomax, said yesterday that he reconciled FIVE discrepancies. At a press conference, Lomax said he knew what the problem was and he was able to resolve it, but by the end of the election there would be unexplained votes on the voting machines – that he cannot claim to account for every ballot!
 
Miller is not new to voter fraud. Miller received $33,000 from George Soros’ Secretary of State Project – a group that was discovered to be linked to felons voting illegally. Miller also failed to investigate the national leadership of ACORN for reports of voter fraud and allowed over 23,000 registered voters to remain on the rolls. Phone banks this year have discovered thousands of voters that do NOT exist but have voted in the past. Miller has yet to investigate.
 
For the last four years, Miller has opposed all efforts to require voters to show their picture ID at the polls. Showing ID is the only way to protect our democracy from voter fraud. Miller and Reid blocked the SAFE Act, a law that Rob Lauer proposed to require voters to show picture ID at the polls, as recently as April.

STOP HARRY REID & ROSS MILLER
FROM STEALING THE ELECTION NOW!

[channelmaniac]

Yawn....

It's been proven by multiple research teams that there's no need to monkey with the presentation data as it's very easy to change the votes once they are on the data card and it can be done without any of the security flags going off. This research has been done like crazy since the computerized voting machines came on the scene.

[Op-Bell]

It's just a wind-up to prepare the way for a court challenge if Angle loses. The hypocrisy of it takes my breath away. Nevada machines inconveniently print a paper receipt that can be checked, but there are plenty of opportunities to fiddle with the vote totals off the machines. There were documented cases in Ohio in 2004 where some precincts reported more votes for Bush than there were registered voters, but the Fox reaction then was "Aw, shut up, lusers". From the report of the House Judiciary Committee, January 5th 2005:

On election day, a computerized voting machine in ward 1B in the Gahana precinct of Franklin County recorded a total of 4,258 votes for President Bush and 260 votes for Democratic challenger John Kerry. However, there are only 800 registered voters in that Gahana precinct, and only 638 people cast votes at the New Life Church polling site. ...

Secretary of State Blackwell has refused to answer any of the questions concerning these matters posed to him by Ranking Member Conyers and 11 other Members of the Judiciary Committee on December 2, 2004.

Again,

In Miami County, voter turnout was a highly suspect and improbable 98.55 percent. With 100% of the precincts reporting on Wednesday, November 3, 2004, President Bush received 20,807 votes, or 65.80% of the vote, and Senator Kerry received 10,724 votes, or 33.92% of the vote. Thus, Miami reported a total of 31,620 voters. Inexplicably, nearly 19,000 new ballots were added after all precincts reported, boosting President Bush’s vote count to 33,039, or 65.77%, while Senator Kerry’s vote percentage stayed exactly the same to three one-hundredths of a percentage point at 33.92 percent. ...

Secretary of State Blackwell has refused to answer any of the questions concerning these matters posed to him by Ranking Member Conyers and 11 other Members of the Judiciary Committee on December 2, 2004.

Since, a few weeks prior to the election, the chairman of Diebold's Premier Elections Solutions division (makers of the machines) had said publicly that his company was "working to deliver Ohio for George Bush", you can understand the suspicions. Premier Election Solutions later admitted the machine errors, but blamed them on problems with their McAffee anti-virus software. This is about as believable as blaming a drunk-driving accident on the CD you were playing at the time.

[brichter]

Voter fraud and illegal  actions by both sides has been going on for decades and will continue. The presence of voting machines is not necessary for this to occur.

[Op-Bell]

Voter fraud and illegal  actions by both sides has been going on for a decades and will continue. The presence of voting machines is not necessary for this to occur.

Yes, it's well documented on both sides. Aside from the actual voting there's the blatant gerrymandering of constituency boundaries to benefit the incumbents, so that the only real threat they face is in the primaries. As Mark Twain said, "If your vote mattered, they wouldn't let you do it". Still, that's not an excuse for accepting what goes on and doing nothing about it, on the grounds that both sides are equally bad. When blatant crime is exposed, the least I expect is that someone will go to trial over it. Otherwise, why should the rest of us have to obey any laws?

[brichter]

Voter fraud and illegal  actions by both sides has been going on for a decades and will continue. The presence of voting machines is not necessary for this to occur.

Yes, it's well documented on both sides. Aside from the actual voting there's the blatant gerrymandering of constituency boundaries to benefit the incumbents, so that the only real threat they face is in the primaries. As Mark Twain said, "If your vote mattered, they wouldn't let you do it". Still, that's not an excuse for accepting what goes on and doing nothing about it, on the grounds that both sides are equally bad. When blatant crime is exposed, the least I expect is that someone will go to trial over it. Otherwise, why should the rest of us have to obey any laws?

Unfortunately, the politicians making the laws are the ones breaking them. It's like having the fox guarding the henhouse, or more aptly, the patients running the asylum.