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TRUEVOTEMD Reports Problems on Election Day |
Major Screen Malfunction Confuses Voters Statewide
November 7, 2006, Montgomery County,
MD. TrueVoteMD operated its Election Day Hotline and fielded at
least 75 incidents of machine malfunctions, check-in problems and major
delays across the State. Click below to read full press release.
November 7, 2006, Montgomery County,
MD. TrueVoteMD operated its Election Day Hotline and fielded at
least 75 incidents of machine malfunctions, check-in problems and major
delays across the State.
Vote Switching/Screen Mis-calibrations
Screens have been malfunctioning all over the State, where voters
cannot select the candidate of their choice because either the check
box is not available, or the screen does not allow them to select the
candidate at all. Several voters complained that it took more than 3
tries to get the machine to work properly, resulting in major delays.
Only one report has come in that indicates that a malfunctioning
machine may have been removed from service.
E-Poll Book crashes, printer problems,
not updated; results in long delays
Several reports came in from voters who were told that they were at the
wrong polling site because their new address had not been updated in
the e-poll book, even though they moved over a year ago. Some voters
were told that they were not in the list at all, and had to vote
provisionally. One report came in of possible voter fraud, where the
voter was told that he requested an absentee ballot as a resident of
Baltimore even though the voter, a life long Maryland resident, has
never lived in Baltimore. He is considering legal action. Several
reports came in of e-poll book printers not working, causing major
delays in big precincts.
Machine Security procedures not
followed
One poll watcher reported that a machine whose tamper tape was missing
continued to be used after the problem was discovered. In several
polling sites, machines whose serial numbers did not match the election
judge manual were still used, even though this is one of the quality
control checks for the machines.
Time-Out Problem
Voters have not been sufficiently informed about the voting machine
time out feature, where the machine times out after two minutes of
inactivity. Several voters had their voter access card spit out and
their ballot cancelled. Some of these timeouts resulted in the machine
freezing and crashing. These machines to our knowledge have not been
removed from service.
Absentee Problems
Several voters, who are in fact absent from the State, did not receive
their absentee ballot in time to mail it by the Nov 6 deadline, and
have therefore been disenfranchised from voting because of the backlog
at the county offices. Other voters who did not receive their absentee
ballot in time who went to polling site to vote on provisional ballot,
discovered that the E-Poll book had not updated and they were told to
vote on a machine.
Other Problems
Othe reported incidents include possible violation of electioneering
laws, overall machine crashes and malfunctions, and major delays at
Leisure World and other locations. TrueVoteMD will release a report
assessing these and other problems shortly.
Please
report any problems with your voting experience to TrueVoteMD at
301-270-6150
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