Fergie's Tech Blog

E-Voting Glitches Examined; Reform Push Planned

K.C. Jones writes on InformationWeek:

Voting advocates and computer experts are examining scattered reports of glitches in electronic voting machines and planning to call for reform.

About 16,000 voters called a nationwide voter hotline to report complaints or concerns on Election Day, according to Common Cause.

An early analysis showed that the highest percentage of callers (21.3 percent) complained about difficulties with registration. Those included motor voter programs failing to transfer registrations to elections boards as well as purging of registration lists. Only 6.2 percent dealt with voter identification, an issue propelled into the spotlight because of several state laws that were overturned and reports that poll workers in a handful of states had turned away, or tried to turn away, several high-ranking elected representatives for insufficient identification.

An analysis in the late afternoon Tuesday showed that 16.9 percent of the calls focused on mechanical failure, which is likely to be one of several components in a push for voter reform as the 2008 presidential election approaches.

posted by Fergie @ 11/09/2006 10:15:00 AM