Abu Wabu

UPDATE
Dallas: More About That Voting Machine "Glitch"

Friday morning we had that item about computer programmer Don Relyea's run-in with that touch-screen voting machine at the Audelia Road Library, where a vote for Gov. Rick Perry appeared to morph into a straight-ticket Green Party vote. Now, see, Dallas County Elections Administrator Bruce Sherbet told us he though the thing looked phony, echoing others who insist Relyea used his thumb to change his vote. Sherbet also wasn't pleased Relyea shot a video inside the voting booth -- only because it's against the law.

Well, Marketplace picks up the story today, and while Sherbet's still not buying it -- he tells the American Public Media show, "It looks like a hoax" -- J. Alex Halderman, an assistant prof of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, isn't ready to dismiss the WTF so quickly. Says he: "This is a known class of problems with touch-screen voting machines." When asked what could cause this, Halderman says: "A mistake in the logic of the ballot." The jokes write themselves. Listen to the broadcast here.

North Carolina: Voter reports problem with ballot machine

A Craven County voter says he had a near miss at the polls on Thursday when an electronic voting machine completed his straight-party ticket for the opposite of what he intended.

Sam Laughinghouse of New Bern said he pushed the button to vote Republican in all races, but the voting machine screen displayed a ballot with all Democrats checked. He cleared the screen and tried again with the same result, he said. Then he asked for and received help from election staff.

“They pushed it twice and the same thing happened,” Laughinghouse said. “That was four times in a row. The fifth time they pushed it and the Republicans came up and I voted.”

Nevada: Nevada Voters Complain Of Problems At Polls

Some voters in Boulder City complained on Monday that their ballot had been cast before they went to the polls, raising questions about Clark County's electronic voting machines.

Voter Joyce Ferrara said when they went to vote for Republican Sharron Angle, her Democratic opponent, Sen. Harry Reid's name was already checked.

Ferrara said she wasn't alone in her voting experience. She said her husband and several others voting at the same time all had the same thing happen.

"Something's not right," Ferrara said. "One person that's a fluke. Two, that's strange. But several within a five minute period of time -- that's wrong."

More as it happens.

Be the Wave!

On November 2 vote Republican and quadruple check your ballots!