Common
11-04-2014, 06:55 PM
Election problems not confined to malfunctioning computers
Little did I know that there would be reports of problems across the country before the day ended.
Alabama: “Four days before the election, Alabama officials ruled that public housing ID could not be used as voter identification (MediaMatters (http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/11/04/voter-disenfranchisement-that-right-wing-media/201451)).”
Connecticut: A judge has extended polling by two hours (http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Voters-Report-Problems-at-Polls-281425521.html) due to computer problems in Hartford. “Some city residents were turned away and not allowed to cast their votes … Others gave up waiting and left for work.” What? No provisional ballot process?
Colorado: Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s office (http://gazette.com/article/1540777) acknowledged problems with the computer system used to verify voter eligibility (http://www.denverpost.com/election2014/ci_26860560/election-2014-all-eyes-colorado-voting-final-push). At least some counties allowed voters to use provisional ballots.
Georgia: The Georgia Secretary of State website that provides poll location information (http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/04/politics/voting-irregularities/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) was broken, according to CNN. Hundreds of voters complained about being unable to find poll location or registration status (http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/election-day-brings-long-lines-sporadic-problems/nhy6s/). “Waits of up to an hour were not uncommon (“>AJC (http://themoderatevoice.com/200095/computer-problems-plague-elections-across-country/%3Ca%20href=)).”
In earlier news (http://www.newsweek.com/voting-day-problems-georgia-raise-tensions-282159)
Roughly 40,000 voter registrations were missing from the public database in Georgia, most of which were collected by the Georgia chapter of the NAACP and the New Georgia Project… As of Monday, they had not reappeared.
Illinois: Many election judges – partisan officials who oversee voting in Illinois – received misleading automated calls in the days leading up to the election, leaving polling stations without a judge (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/malicious-robocalls-leave-chicago-short-of-election-judges/). The city of Chicago had to call in 250 standby judges. “[S]ome judges quit after receiving the misinformation (CBS (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/malicious-robocalls-leave-chicago-short-of-election-judges/)).”
Maine: “A surprise early snowstorm in Maine left tens of thousands without power and a handful of towns scrambling to move polling places at the last minute” (Time (http://time.com/3556828/voting-rights-ballot-problems/)).
North Carolina: “[T]he wrong voter rolls were sent to a polling site just down the street from Bennett College, a historically black college in Greensboro … two precincts in Cumberland County received the wrong thumb drives for the voting machines that were sent. (MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/problems-reported-polls-vary-state-state)).”
Texas: “[T]he state emailed counties Tuesday morning to inform them that the statewide voter registration system was down … That meant poll workers were unable to access information about a voter’s registration status, likely leading many voters to have to cast provisional ballots. (MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/problems-reported-polls-vary-state-state)).”
Virginia: Problems with touchscreen voting machines (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/election-day-arrives-after-final-push-from-gillespie-warner-in-virginia-senate-race/2014/11/03/21497c8c-63cf-11e4-9fdc-d43b053ecb4d_story.html) reported in 43 precincts in the Virginia Beach area (http://www.13newsnow.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/11/04/rep-rigell-voting-machine-problems-in-2nd-d/18455653/).
http://themoderatevoice.com/200095/computer-problems-plague-elections-across-country/
Little did I know that there would be reports of problems across the country before the day ended.
Alabama: “Four days before the election, Alabama officials ruled that public housing ID could not be used as voter identification (MediaMatters (http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/11/04/voter-disenfranchisement-that-right-wing-media/201451)).”
Connecticut: A judge has extended polling by two hours (http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Voters-Report-Problems-at-Polls-281425521.html) due to computer problems in Hartford. “Some city residents were turned away and not allowed to cast their votes … Others gave up waiting and left for work.” What? No provisional ballot process?
Colorado: Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s office (http://gazette.com/article/1540777) acknowledged problems with the computer system used to verify voter eligibility (http://www.denverpost.com/election2014/ci_26860560/election-2014-all-eyes-colorado-voting-final-push). At least some counties allowed voters to use provisional ballots.
Georgia: The Georgia Secretary of State website that provides poll location information (http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/04/politics/voting-irregularities/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) was broken, according to CNN. Hundreds of voters complained about being unable to find poll location or registration status (http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/election-day-brings-long-lines-sporadic-problems/nhy6s/). “Waits of up to an hour were not uncommon (“>AJC (http://themoderatevoice.com/200095/computer-problems-plague-elections-across-country/%3Ca%20href=)).”
In earlier news (http://www.newsweek.com/voting-day-problems-georgia-raise-tensions-282159)
Roughly 40,000 voter registrations were missing from the public database in Georgia, most of which were collected by the Georgia chapter of the NAACP and the New Georgia Project… As of Monday, they had not reappeared.
Illinois: Many election judges – partisan officials who oversee voting in Illinois – received misleading automated calls in the days leading up to the election, leaving polling stations without a judge (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/malicious-robocalls-leave-chicago-short-of-election-judges/). The city of Chicago had to call in 250 standby judges. “[S]ome judges quit after receiving the misinformation (CBS (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/malicious-robocalls-leave-chicago-short-of-election-judges/)).”
Maine: “A surprise early snowstorm in Maine left tens of thousands without power and a handful of towns scrambling to move polling places at the last minute” (Time (http://time.com/3556828/voting-rights-ballot-problems/)).
North Carolina: “[T]he wrong voter rolls were sent to a polling site just down the street from Bennett College, a historically black college in Greensboro … two precincts in Cumberland County received the wrong thumb drives for the voting machines that were sent. (MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/problems-reported-polls-vary-state-state)).”
Texas: “[T]he state emailed counties Tuesday morning to inform them that the statewide voter registration system was down … That meant poll workers were unable to access information about a voter’s registration status, likely leading many voters to have to cast provisional ballots. (MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/problems-reported-polls-vary-state-state)).”
Virginia: Problems with touchscreen voting machines (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/election-day-arrives-after-final-push-from-gillespie-warner-in-virginia-senate-race/2014/11/03/21497c8c-63cf-11e4-9fdc-d43b053ecb4d_story.html) reported in 43 precincts in the Virginia Beach area (http://www.13newsnow.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/11/04/rep-rigell-voting-machine-problems-in-2nd-d/18455653/).
http://themoderatevoice.com/200095/computer-problems-plague-elections-across-country/