CONNECTING MARYLAND'S ELECTION DEBACLE DOTS

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

CONNECTING MARYLAND'S ELECTION DEBACLE DOTS

Editor's note:
This election was truly a sad litany of one screwup after another.
I wanted to show the events that unfolded during the Maryland primary,
the helplessness of the election workers put in an impossible situation,
the continued incompetence and blindness of Linda Lamone that caused the problems,
and the tone deafness of Lamone and Diebold apologists who refused to listen to good
(computer scientists) advice.
Had the Maryland State senate passed the legislation to require verified voting,
and had the Board of Elections purchased optical scanners instead of
Electronic poll books, this mess would not have happened.
But Lamone dug her heels in, the State Senate shielded her,
and a report written by Glenn Newkirk of InfoSentry was used to further bolster
Lamone's argument to keep the paperless machines.

Maryland's Election Debacle and Linda Lamone's Hall of Shame
September 12, 2006. Maryland's primary a disaster!

In spite of the long hours of many dedicated poll workers,
Maryland has again embarrassed itself.
Poll workers, election officials, election rovers - found themselves in over
their heads without a life preserver.

On election day poll workers found themselves scrambling for emergency paper ballots
for voter to use - because the high priced, "high tech" voting machines crashed,
shut down, or flat out couldn't be started up.

What went wrong?


-Many voters went to the polls only to find locked doors.
-Polls across the state opened late due to missing equipment or missing poll workers.
-Many voting machine technical 'rovers' hired were temporary workers hired from a Monster.Com ad.
-Blind voters found that they still could not vote unassisted, the expensive
-Once again, "high tech" voting machines failed in the promise to Help America Vote Act
.
Avi Rubin describes his day working at the polls IN MARYLAND,
and the disaster that the new e-poll books caused:

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

My day at the polls - Maryland primary '06

I don't know where to start.
This primary today is the third election that I have worked as
an election judge.

Read the complete story of repeated warnings and alerts to Maryland
Election officials beginning in 2003

[tech3149]

1. Working in electronics my adult life has taught me one thing

Technology is a wonderful thing but should never be relied on when a simpler alternative is available.
KISS Keep It Simple Stupid