Voting Machine Mess-up Du Jour (Displayed 11/17/04)


Sandoval County, New Mexico. October, 2004. Sequoia.
Republican votes change to Democrat or Green on the screen.

Problems plagued early voting. Both major political parties said that machine errors may have caused votes intended for one side to actually be cast for the other. In addition four machines had electrical problems and had to be taken out of service.*

The complaints were widespread:

Three Republican voters spoke at a news conference, saying they were not sure if their votes were cast as they intended.

Stan Read, the Republican candidate for judge in the 13th Judicial District, said he was not initially allowed to vote for himself or House candidate Glenn Walters and that he had to vote for an unopposed Democratic candidate in another judicial race to make the machine accept his ballot.

At least one other voter had a similar experience, having to vote for a Democrat he didn't favor to make sure the machine would cast his entire ballot.

A Rio Rancho woman who attempted to vote a straight Republican ticket said the machine switched all of her votes to Democrat. She said her daughter attempted to vote straight Republican, but her votes were all switched to the Green Party.

Pat Rogers, attorney for the Republican Party, expressed grave concerns about electronic voting.

"These are machines that supposedly were certified and verified before the election," Rogers said. "These machines that are turning Republican votes into Democrat votes ought to be of concern to everyone who wants an honest count in this election."

* Concerns rise on early voting. The Rio Rancho Observer. October 26, 2004. By Eric Maddy, Observer staff writer.

See: Sequoia in the News


News stories make it rapidly apparent that
electronic voting is not reliable, accurate, or secure.
Any one who claims otherwise is either uninformed or deceptive.
~ Joseph Holder