So New York Has Electronic Voting Machines Now And I'm Pissed

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

They have the scanner type. You fill in the ovals by the candidate you want, just like I used to fill out NYS Regence and SAT tests. When your done you put the ballot into a scan machine and it tells you after it reads it that the votes were cast. There are no receipts, the screen doesn't tell you what it's read and I have no idea if my vote will count for anything.

New York was pressured to bring these machines in due to the voters with disabilities act. So guess what? The ballot was large but the writing was so small, that anyone with impaired vision would have a problem reading it, let alone filling in the little ovals. And seniors had problems reading it and had problems holding the sharpie pens used to fill in the ovals. It also required that you go to these little screened tables to fill-in your selections and then you have to go over to the scanner, and wait. In NY we had lever machines and you just had to go in to the booth, draw the curtain, pull down the levers and when you're done, pull another lever that entered your vote and opened the curtain. No schlepping from place to another.

When I complained to the heroic poll workers, I was more or less met with blank stares....

Can you tell I'm not a happy puppy?

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

1. Can we say....

"Governor Horsefucker" :scared:

[johnnie]

2. That's the kind we in Cleveland had this time (or I did at least)

I was fine with them and didn't feel any stress about it. Although I still haven't gotten used to bringing my reading glasses around and it was a bit hard to read. But I saw "Democrat" easy enough.

[ejpoeta]

3. i went through that this morning. i miss the lever machine and wish we could just do it that way.

it seemed faster. but even though it just said it recorded my vote, at least they have the paper i filled in the circles on if they recount.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

5. That's a good point about there at least being a paper trail with the machine

retaining the ballots.

When I used the lever, I felt it was Doing Something! Kind of like an exclamation point at the end of a sentence.

I will also repeat, that I was upset that the writing was so small. Was yours as well?

[ejpoeta]

18. nope. the ballot was very long paper. they had a 'privacy' folder for me to put it in.

they gave me a pen to use as well which i returned with the privacy folder when i was done. i must say it was easier for me to figure out who was what on this ballot than in the lever one. but it was hard while holding abby to fill it out. my fault. why i didn't grab the stroller is beyond me. but i filled it out easily enough and then stood in the line for the scanner. the type didn't seem too small for me.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

4. But you have a paper trail

That's better than many other places.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

6. I just remarked about that on my other post. I'm recalling people in other states just voting

directly on a screen. Yikes!!!!!!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

9. We've had similar system to your new one here in RI for awhile

I'm glad to know there's a paper trail at least, and many of my family members are election officials who have confidence in the system. But there is no reason the ballots should be hard to read.

Those touchscreens where you press the screen and it looks like it went to the other candidate scare the hell out of me.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

17. Seriously, the writing was very small. As to your family, I'm glad that they're

confident...are the machines owned by a Democratic concern? With most or if not all (someone correct me if I'm wrong) the electronic voting machines and the software are owned by the people who make the machines and not to the states that use them. That in itself makes me feel uneasy.

[JackRiddler]

15. But it's not voter-verified. The machine swallows it without displaying what it's read.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

21. I just looked it up and the machines are made by the infamous ES&S. Also, do you remember

the HBO documentary "Hacking The Vote"...although not our favorite person (at least not mine)Bev Harris was in it, it showed how optical scan machines could flip the votes......

[defendandprotect]

7. Too many people who are inexperienced or don't think to challenge anything

are covering the polls now --

I recall one period where the person didn't know enough to COVER the previous

signatures while asking you to provide a new sample of your signature!!

They're not properly trained -- and seemingly guillible people -- in my experience.

I've been voting absentee a few years now so not sure what's going on --

[alsame]

8. We got a flyer in the mail months ago, before the primary,

explaining the new scanning system. It had pictures of the ballot and the screens. It clearly stated that after your ballot was scanned, a screen would appear listing your choices and ask you to confirm. They even had a photo of this screen and had instructions about what to do if you wanted to correct your ballot.

Well, that didn't happen in the primary - after I scanned my ballot, the screen just said "Thank you for voting". I questioned a poll worker at the time and he didn't know what to say.

This morning, the same thing happened - no confirmation screen, just a thank you screen. Again I asked about a confirmation screen and was told it doesn't exist.

I don't like this either, Ommm. I've used levers my entire voting life.

[NYC Liberal]

10. Not to mention that the poll worker next to the scanners was

hovering over me as I went to put it in. I'd rather not have someone looking at my ballot.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

14. And I on the other hand...he told me to place it face down so he couldn't see it

and I said to him that I didn't care if he did. I then told him I voted straight Democratic!

[NYC Liberal]

19. LOL! It wasn't that big a big deal to be honest, but it felt sort of awkward.

I miss the lever machines as well but the as others have said, at least there is a paper trail and it's not completely electronic.

This is what we're talking about, for those who don't vote here:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

22. But optical scan machines can be hacked to flip the vote. If the vote

is hacked and gives a candidate a Huge margin, the losing candidate wouldn't even think of asking for a recount. And in an election year like this, when all the pundits are talking about huge GOP sweeps, who would think of asking for a recount in the first place.

[NYC Liberal]

24. And if they did ask for a recount, the media would go after them for it.

Remember what happened to Gore in 2000? He was branded a "sore loser" by the media for daring to ask that ALL the votes be counted, and then Bush sued him all the way to the Supreme Court just to stop counting the votes!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

25. IMHO at that point in history, if Bush aka Shrub, was an admirable person, why was he

trying so hard not to allow a recount. He proved to me at that point that he was lower than scum. That should have been the spin.

[stray cat]

11. Worked fine for me and people were very helpful and competent

And very careful not to see the ballot once it was completed. Awesome volunteers. Of course if you could not read they could read it to you. Reading really is fundamental I guess

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

23. I'm so happy that you're so secure with your vote.

[hedgehog]

12. I'm not entirely certain the poll workers were using the machine properly.

It said my vote was registered, but then what were the two buttons on the machine for? It's probably OK, but at least there's a paper trail.

I've voted with the machines almost 40 years, and miss what my daughter called " the engine of democracy". OTOH, people moving into New York State were frequently baffled by the machines and did things like pulling the tab down, then moving it back up, not realizing that it was the lever that opened the curtain that registered the vote.

[SethInUpstateNY]

13. I used these for the

first time today. What a royal pain in the butt this process is now. I don't trust this process at all. Give me the lever machines over this any day.

[slackmaster]

16. Does your state law allow you to request a hand recount of the paper ballots?

Do you have standing, as a voter, to make such a request if you believe the reported results are in error? Or can only a candidate do that?

The system you describe is similar to one that was used in California a few elections back. The reader freaked me out because it felt a lot like feeding a shredder.

Now we fill out bubbles and place our ballots in a cardboard box, to be read by a machine later.

[Renew Deal]

20. It's really not different than the old system, and it's probably more secure.

Before you would vote on the levers and you really had no idea if it counted. Now at least there is a paper ballot to go back to. Also, I don't think it's any harder to read the ballot. It may be more confusing though, because the machines would never allow you to overvote.

You also had to wait with the lever machines. There was usually 1 machine per district and 2 people couldn't vote at the same time. Now several people can vote at the same time and there is virtually no wait time at the actual machine.

You talk about "pulling the lever" and "your vote was entered?" How do you really know that? At least now there is a paper ballot to count.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

26. I posted this upthread. Just think about this. These machines can be hacked and flip votes.

In an election like this, when all the hoopla is about a GOP sweep, it would be very easy to flip the votes to such a degree that it would appear insane for the loser to ask for a recount.

Watch the documentary by HBO, "Hacking Democracy", and then come back to me about how secure you feel about your vote.

[Renew Deal]

28. You could do that with the old machine too.

If you tried hard enough.

[MorningGlow]

27. Yeah, I don't like the new system either

Used it for the first time this morning and I missed the old lever machines desperately. To the poll workers' credit in my town, they did admit that they also miss the lever machines.

I know this might be silly, but I really miss the ol' CHUNK noise of the lever that registers your vote and opens the curtains. Very reassuring.

And ol' paranoid me just doesn't trust the new machines. There was no verification--my paper just slid into the machine and it said the votes were registered. I thought we were going to get a screen that let us review our votes before we pushed the green button to register them--? That didn't happen.

I understand the concept of a paper trail, which the poll workers were also clinging to as the lone bright spot in this changeover, but I thought there was a paper trail with the old machines as well--on a scroll of paper. Am I right or wrong on that? If that's the case, that argument doesn't hold up, then.

Eh, I just don't like 'em. Hackable. :(