Problems with ballots and machines blamed on company (ES&S)

[IndianaGreen]

April 8, 2006

As voting nears, firm takes heat

Problems with ballots and machines blamed on company

By Jason Thomas and Vic Ryckaert

With the primary election less than a month away, three metro area counties, including Marion, are blaming a Nebraska-based company for problems with ballots and machines.

So far, government officials have managed to correct the errors, but they are worried that more problems could crop up in the weeks leading up to the May 2 primary. That primary includes federal, state and local races.

In Marion County, officials discovered that absentee ballots did not include instructions for the nonpartisan school board elections in Decatur and Washington townships. Absentee voting started this week, and the error that two people are going to have to vote again.

"This particular problem seems now to be fixed, and we got away with it only affecting two people," Marion County Clerk Doris Anne Sadler said Friday during an emergency meeting of the county Election Board. "But given the history of the last two weeks, I'm afraid of what will crop up again."

Election Systems & Software, the company that provides election equipment to Marion, Johnson and Hancock counties, is under fire for incorrect ballots and delays in mailing the ballots and for not updating voting machine technology.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060408/NEWS02/604080462

[acmavm]

1. Yeah, Chuckie's company. Used here to put him in the Senate.

n/t

[IndianaGreen]

2. The automated voter registration computer dropped a bunch of voters

from the rolls. This is a recurring problem that can only be fixed with paper ballots.