Should we be worried: voter registration system crashes 1st time out

[hippiechick]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060318/NEWS02/603180506

1st test of voter sign-up is a bust
new system crashes, causing worry, but it works on 2nd try

By Mary Beth Schneider

A new statewide voter registration system getting its first test Friday needed a do-over.
The system -- mandated in every state under the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 -- crashed in its first tryout Friday morning, raising concerns among Marion County election officials about how the system will work during the May 2 primary election.

A second test conducted Friday afternoon went smoothly, election officials said. The problem, said Secretary of State Todd Rokita, the state's top election official, was caused by a hardware upgrade designed to make the system faster.

Steve McNear, president of Quest Information Systems, which created Indiana's system, said in a statement that "temporary problems were discovered and resolved quickly. We remain confident that our efforts -- and our procedures for identifying problems and making system corrections -- will result in a new state voter registration system that is reliable, secure, flexible and comprehensive."

The company said no hardware upgrades will be made within a week of the May 2 primary or Nov. 4 general elections.

more at link ...

[salin]

1. Interesting that while they allude to problems

and possible 'provisional ballots' - they don't spell out what such a glitch could mean to voters standing at the polls.

Also - if the paper books are still there, then why not just use them as the primary means - I have worked the polls at the primary and general election - the paper system works fine - why are we changing something that works?

[freedomfries]

2. kick & recommended - a disaster in the making

Check the wishtv articles on this:
Voter Registration Database Crashes in Mock Elections
http://www.wishtv/Global/story.asp?S=4646627
Signatures on BMV Voter Registration May Cause Problems
http://www.wishtv/Global/story.asp?S=4626058
Rokita Denies Favoritism in Choice of Local Company
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S454682
New Voter Registration System Won't Solve Old Problems
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4543981
SVRS Statewide Voter Registration System
http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/SVRSFactSheet.pdf

[salin]

3. another kick and rec.

but too late to rec - meant to do that yesterday. :(

[freedomfries]

4. please check this ER thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=417795&mesg_id=417795

[salin]

5. Another quick blurb on WISH TV this AM

had the tv on to figure out which route to take to work, and how early I should leave when... blip (short item) the story came up. One new item learned for me, at least, one of the things they are doing is cross referencing post office addresses with voter registratios. Okay, so for high mobility families - where there may have been two addresses with the post office in the past year - or people who split time between two addresses.... what is to stop them from blocking both addresses from registration (ala negate the voter registration)?

Getting a bit icky outside - so am off nice and early this am - catch up with you later!