CNN: Glitch gave Bush 3,893 extra votes in Ohio!

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gutharius

Golden Member
May 26, 2004
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http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOL...problems.ap/index.html

Remember what the CEO of diebold said??? Well I am starting to wonder... :|

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- An error with an electronic voting system gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in suburban Columbus, elections officials said.

Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.

Bush actually received 365 votes in the precinct, Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, told The Columbus Dispatch.

State and county election officials did not immediately respond to requests by The Associated Press for more details about the voting system and its vendor, and whether the error, if repeated elsewhere in Ohio, could have affected the outcome.

Bush won the state by more than 136,000 votes, according to unofficial results, and Kerry conceded the election on Wednesday after acknowledging that 155,000 provisional ballots yet to be counted in Ohio would not change the result. (Full Ohio results)

The Secretary of State's Office said Friday it could not revise Bush's total until the county reported the error.

[p]The Ohio glitch is among a handful of computer troubles that have emerged since Tuesday's elections. [/b](Touchscreen voting troubles reported)

In one North Carolina county, more than 4,500 votes were lost because officials mistakenly believed a computer that stored ballots electronically could hold more data than it did. And in San Francisco, a malfunction with custom voting software could delay efforts to declare the winners of four races for county supervisor.

In the Ohio precinct in question, the votes are recorded onto a cartridge. On one of the three machines at that precinct, a malfunction occurred in the recording process, Damschroder said. He could not explain how the malfunction occurred.

Damschroder said people who had seen poll results on the election board's Web site called to point out the discrepancy. The error would have been discovered when the official count for the election is performed later this month, he said.

The reader also recorded zero votes in a county commissioner race on the machine.

Workers checked the cartridge against memory banks in the voting machine and each showed that 115 people voted for Bush on that machine. With the other machines, the total for Bush in the precinct added up to 365 votes.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a glitch occurred with software designed for the city's new "ranked-choice voting," in which voters list their top three choices for municipal offices. If no candidate gets a majority of first-place votes outright, voters' second and third-place preferences are then distributed among candidates who weren't eliminated in the first round. (E-vote goes smoothly, but experts skeptical)

When the San Francisco Department of Elections tried a test run on Wednesday of the program that does the redistribution, some of the votes didn't get counted and skewed the results, director John Arntz said.

"All the information is there," Arntz said. "It's just not arriving the way it was supposed to."

A technician from the Omaha, Neb. company that designed the software, Election Systems & Software Inc., was working to diagnose and fix the problem.
Click to expand...
 
R

rickn

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 1999
7,064
0
0
yea, wow, big surprise

how convenient that florida was all electronic, and the presidents brother is our governor. Now that's worth investigating, if you believe in conspriracy theories
 
A

AFB

Lifer
Jan 10, 2004
10,718
3
0
As I have said before, this needs to be investigated no matter who is benifiting.
 
G

gutharius

Golden Member
May 26, 2004
1,965
0
0
Originally posted by: amdfanboy
As I have said before, this needs to be investigated no matter who is benifiting.
Click to expand...

HERE HERE! Voter fraud is a threat to all americans not just republican or democrat Americans. ALL AMERICANS!
 
C

chess9

Elite member
Apr 15, 2000
7,748
0
0
"The software is not geared to count more than 32,000 votes in a precinct. So what happens when it gets to 32,000 is the software starts counting backward," said Broward County Mayor Ilene Lieberman.

Uh, why didn't they know this before they purchased the machines? Is there a single geek here who doesn't think that these public officials demonstrated gross negligence?

As an old guy who isn't afraid to admit his limitations, perhaps it's time that the purple-haired ladies in some of these counties cede some decision making to competent geeks. :(

-Robert
 
C

CTho9305

Elite Member
Jul 26, 2000
9,214
1
81
Maybe people will start to understand that the .001% mispunched ballots with punchcards is better than the problems that electronic systems introduce.
 
StageLeft

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
Originally posted by: CTho9305
Maybe people will start to understand that the .001% mispunched ballots with punchcards is better than the problems that electronic systems introduce.
Click to expand...
Nah, there is nothign wrong with electronic voting, done in the right hands. We all use ATMs without fear or issue. Whoever is writing the software for these things should be put to sleep, as that is the cause of the problem.

 
D

Darkhawk28

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2000
6,759
0
0
Originally posted by: rickn
yea, wow, big surprise

how convenient that florida was all electronic, and the presidents brother is our governor. Now that's worth investigating, if you believe in conspriracy theories
Click to expand...

Florida was about 50/50 optical scanning machines and e-voting machines. The e-voting machines were shaving, the optical scanning were padding.
 
S

Strk

Lifer
Nov 23, 2003
10,197
4
76
Originally posted by: chess9
"The software is not geared to count more than 32,000 votes in a precinct. So what happens when it gets to 32,000 is the software starts counting backward," said Broward County Mayor Ilene Lieberman.

Uh, why didn't they know this before they purchased the machines? Is there a single geek here who doesn't think that these public officials demonstrated gross negligence?

As an old guy who isn't afraid to admit his limitations, perhaps it's time that the purple-haired ladies in some of these counties cede some decision making to competent geeks. :(

-Robert
Click to expand...

I think incompetence is a better description.
 
C

CTho9305

Elite Member
Jul 26, 2000
9,214
1
81
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: CTho9305
Maybe people will start to understand that the .001% mispunched ballots with punchcards is better than the problems that electronic systems introduce.
Click to expand...
Nah, there is nothign wrong with electronic voting, done in the right hands. We all use ATMs without fear or issue. Whoever is writing the software for these things should be put to sleep, as that is the cause of the problem.
Click to expand...

ATMs are different. At ATMs, I get receipts, and every month, my bank sends a log of all transactions on my account. If an ATM overcharged, I can catch it. If an ATM dispends less cash than it withdrew, I can still take it up with the bank. When you vote, EVEN if you get a receipt, you still don't get a confirmation at the end of the month stating who you voted for (for obvious reasons).
 
D

Dari

Lifer
Oct 25, 2002
17,133
38
91
Human and computer errors happen. What if we found out that Kerry extra votes than he deserved? Fact is the errors did not just start in 2004 or 2000. Get over it, Bush won.
 
StageLeft

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
Originally posted by: CTho9305
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: CTho9305
Maybe people will start to understand that the .001% mispunched ballots with punchcards is better than the problems that electronic systems introduce.
Click to expand...
Nah, there is nothign wrong with electronic voting, done in the right hands. We all use ATMs without fear or issue. Whoever is writing the software for these things should be put to sleep, as that is the cause of the problem.
Click to expand...

ATMs are different. At ATMs, I get receipts, and every month, my bank sends a log of all transactions on my account. If an ATM overcharged, I can catch it. If an ATM dispends less cash than it withdrew, I can still take it up with the bank. When you vote, EVEN if you get a receipt, you still don't get a confirmation at the end of the month stating who you voted for (for obvious reasons).
Click to expand...
And when was the last time I've ever in my life had, or even heard of anybody having, a problem with an ATM? Further, their software is far more complex, because it has to communicate with various servers and have transaction control and everything. Voting is about as simple a piece of software as you can make.

 
M

Mill

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
28,558
3
81
Originally posted by: Dari
Human and computer errors happen. What if we found out that Kerry extra votes than he deserved? Fact is the errors did not just start in 2004 or 2000. Get over it, Bush won.
Click to expand...

But we have to fix those errors from happening again. Head in the sand won't do that.
 
C

CTho9305

Elite Member
Jul 26, 2000
9,214
1
81
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: CTho9305
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: CTho9305
Maybe people will start to understand that the .001% mispunched ballots with punchcards is better than the problems that electronic systems introduce.
Click to expand...
Nah, there is nothign wrong with electronic voting, done in the right hands. We all use ATMs without fear or issue. Whoever is writing the software for these things should be put to sleep, as that is the cause of the problem.
Click to expand...

ATMs are different. At ATMs, I get receipts, and every month, my bank sends a log of all transactions on my account. If an ATM overcharged, I can catch it. If an ATM dispends less cash than it withdrew, I can still take it up with the bank. When you vote, EVEN if you get a receipt, you still don't get a confirmation at the end of the month stating who you voted for (for obvious reasons).
Click to expand...
And when was the last time I've ever in my life had, or even heard of anybody having, a problem with an ATM? Further, their software is far more complex, because it has to communicate with various servers and have transaction control and everything. Voting is about as simple a piece of software as you can make.
Click to expand...

There is also very little to gain from ATM software that incorrectly charges, as people can verify their account statements. With voting, there are big potential wins.
 
D

Dari

Lifer
Oct 25, 2002
17,133
38
91
Originally posted by: Mill
Originally posted by: Dari
Human and computer errors happen. What if we found out that Kerry extra votes than he deserved? Fact is the errors did not just start in 2004 or 2000. Get over it, Bush won.
Click to expand...

But we have to fix those errors from happening again. Head in the sand won't do that.
Click to expand...

You're right. But it's been happening since the first vote EVER. Besides, that's why they came up with electronic voting. With that said, there should be a schema that all electronic voting machines have to abide by and their source code should be open to the public.
 
StageLeft

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
Originally posted by: CTho9305
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: CTho9305
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: CTho9305
Maybe people will start to understand that the .001% mispunched ballots with punchcards is better than the problems that electronic systems introduce.
Click to expand...
Nah, there is nothign wrong with electronic voting, done in the right hands. We all use ATMs without fear or issue. Whoever is writing the software for these things should be put to sleep, as that is the cause of the problem.
Click to expand...

ATMs are different. At ATMs, I get receipts, and every month, my bank sends a log of all transactions on my account. If an ATM overcharged, I can catch it. If an ATM dispends less cash than it withdrew, I can still take it up with the bank. When you vote, EVEN if you get a receipt, you still don't get a confirmation at the end of the month stating who you voted for (for obvious reasons).
Click to expand...
And when was the last time I've ever in my life had, or even heard of anybody having, a problem with an ATM? Further, their software is far more complex, because it has to communicate with various servers and have transaction control and everything. Voting is about as simple a piece of software as you can make.
Click to expand...

There is also very little to gain from ATM software that incorrectly charges, as people can verify their account statements. With voting, there are big potential wins.
Click to expand...
Nonetheless, ATM errors happen once in a blue moon, and voting is far simpler. It can be mastered, just not by the clowns doing it now :)
 
D

Darkhawk28

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2000
6,759
0
0
Originally posted by: Dari
Human and computer errors happen. What if we found out that Kerry extra votes than he deserved? Fact is the errors did not just start in 2004 or 2000. Get over it, Bush won.
Click to expand...

Human is error is counting 1, 2, 3, 4... where was I? .... 7, 8, 9, 10..

Computer error is counting 1, 2, 3, 4 .... flietahdfaerasd .... 40,000, 40,001, 40,002 .... LOL
 
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