Voting Bugs [WAS: "Have Patience . . ."]
Nov 6, 2007 8:14 - 12 Comments
[UPDATE: There are more machine-related strangenesses in the comments section. Read on.]
[UPDATE: The City has a response on the absentee-ballot issue. It's in the comments.]
As Rockville Central reader David points out, when you go to vote today you may need to take along with you a small dose of patience. But, it is not a nightmare and your vote will get counted, do not worry.
There appears to be a database error in the voting rolls: Most (not all) people who come to the check-in table are indicated as already having received an absentee ballot. I am told this is happening across polling places, not just one place.
Poll workers are working around it by manually issuing a voting card and writing down the name and address of the voter. Presumably, sometime later those names will be entered in the city’s database so the voter gets credit for having voted. In case that doesn’t work as planned, I just want to go on record now as saying I did vote!
Regardless, the actual vote is definitely being counted.
And, the line was not too bad, even with all the manual-this and workaround-that. So, don’t let this keep you home.
I am interested, though, in knowing about how voting is going, as a process, across the City. Please use the comment space here to keep readers up-to-date!
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I just voted at the Elwood Smith Center and there was no line. My name popped right up, although they did admit the database was having problems. Now I have that great feeling from participating mixed with hopeful anticipation for tonight’s results.
Voting this morning at the F. Scott Fitzgerald was quiet, with perhaps four voters present at any time. We did notice that a voter ahead of us was notified that the computer said he had received an absentee ballot, which he denied, and the staff member issued a ballot.
I do hate going through the gauntlet of campaign signs and workers glad-handing voters–it all seems so insincere and full of hype. If people haven’t figured out how they are voting when they arrive, they shouldn’t be swayed by a stranger pushing a brochure in their hand. Having an information table for all the candidates should be sufficient.
Max
I know they were working on the problem and trying to get it fixed. It also has not been adding much time, now that the workers know just what to do to work around it.
I voted at Elwood Smith around 8:30AM. Marck Pierzchala and Theo Anderson were there to shake hands. After the Yo Vote’ sticker, that was my sons favorite part
Anyways, there was no line and we got through not being fingered as having received an absentee ballot. However, I heard some official exclaim that we have another absentee. I was vote number 27 on one of the three machines there.
ER!K RE@D
Waddington Place
I have heard about two not-yet-reported voting machine issues.
First, I have heard that on some machines, when a voter voted for a particular candidate, the candidate above or below got selected instead (seems to be a touchscreen calibration issue). It is worth double-checking teh final screen to make sure you are voting for whom you think you are voting for.
Second, I have heard that at least one voter had a popup screen appear that said something along the lines of “Are you sure you want to vote for this person?” Notwithstanding such warnings, press on, voters!
Please keep the tips coming.
I voted at Beall Elementary this morning and was pleased to see a relatively heavy turnout. I stood in line, but it wasn’t too bad, especially seeing several familiar faces in line with me. My name was one of those flagged as having received an absentee ballot, which I found strange because I never requested one. I hope we’ll find out what is causing this error in the database. I’d feel a little more confident in “the system” if these errors didn’t happen.
Having been a poll watcher, I enjoy wading into the fray, although I usually keep my hands in my pockets and say, “I’ve already made up my mind, but thanks for being here.” It’s hard for well-informed voters to believe, but there really are people who show up at the polls unsure of who they’re going to vote for, especially as you get further down the ballot. I once invited a voter to “Please vote for X!” and was startled to have him reply, “OK.”
The continuing problems with the electronic voting system remind us to keep the pressure up on the State to fix the process. I can only imagine the chaos that will ensue in the next Presidential election, and what a demoralizing effect it has on people who are already apathetic or mistrustful.
I voted at Beall this morning and was also considered an absentee voter. Since I already knew about the glitch, thanks to Rockville Central, I was not alarmed. I agree with jr that it garners more distrust on the whole system.
I did feel accosted by the electioneers. Since I walked from my home, instead of parking in the back parking lot, I did not walk through the gaunlet. As a result a few people people ran up to me to solicit my vote just as I was about to cross the threshhold of the door. That seemed a bit excessive to me and I notified them that I had already passed the “No Electioneering” sign. One of the vote solicitors was a candidate for Council that I was planning on voting for. For a minute I considered changing my mind just because I didn’t like how he approached me. I didn’t though. He got my vote anyway.
Hello all, I just received this comment from Rockville City Manager Scott Ullery:
No problems with the machines. What you are probably referring to is a short delay that occurred early on at some of the polling places. Within the first 5-10 minutes after the polls opened, we discovered a technical mistake in the electronic poll book supplied by the state, and we immediately put in place a simple procedure to work around the mistake. The mistake was caused when the state extracted the Rockville poll book from the larger database. Officials at the polls report that only a small handful of people, estimated at no more than a half dozen, might have been affected. We know of two of those people coming to City Hall and casting their votes successfully.
Other than that brief glitch, the election is going very well so far. We regret the inconvenience to those voters who were delayed early this morning, and we are grateful for their patience and understanding. The poll books are locked when they arrive, and are not allowed to be opened until they are put into use at the polls, so there was no opportunity to examine them for errors. Fortunately, our judges, poll workers, and the City Clerk’s Office jumped on this immediately, contained it successfully, and averted a larger problem.
Please let me know if you encounter other issues.
Thanks everyone.
I’m glad the “absentee glitch” was detected early and dealt with so that only a minimal number of voters will be adversely affected. I’m sure that the election will continue without major hitches. That’s my optimist side talking.
Now here is the cynical side. The scenario as described has certain similarities to so-called voter caging by registered mail, except it is inverted, in the sense that those asserted to have received an absentee ballot would not get to vote at the polls. The cynical side of me wonders just how big a problem could this have been? What percentage of voters were actually designated as having received absentee ballots? How does that compare to the number of absentee ballot requests tallied by the City of Rockville? Is there any geographical clustering of voters mislabelled as absentee?
The optimist in me says it’s great that the problem was caught and worked around. The cynic wants the matter to be thoroughly investigated to ensure underhanded doings don’t undermine voter confidence in the process.
The Washington Post has a version of this story.
Enterik’s “cynical side” is spot on target. While those shown as tagged did get to vote (thanks to the City Clerk and her well prepared election workers), the spectre of how bad the state’s snafu could have been is not a pretty picture. The percentage of “tagged” voters was on the order of 10%, while the actual number of absentees this year was around 200-plus.
We had a very direct conversation today with the responsible state officials, who explained what happened and took full responsibility for what they called “a dumb mistake.” I made a strong verbal request, which will be followed up in writing, for a full accounting of (1) how this occurred, including a full description of the relevant procedures, software applications, and databases involved; (2) how the “quality control” measures employed in this instance compare and contrast with those employed in other elections, including statewide elections; and (3) measures to be put into place to prevent this mistake from ever happening again.
In brief, the immediate source of the problem was the extraction of Rockville’s poll book information from a statewide database that was accurate and up to date in every way, except that it had been altered for training purposes to simulate a database with absentee voters tagged. The simulation was created by arbitrarily tagging all street addresses beginning with “5,” thereby approximating a 10% absentee vote. Rockville’s poll book was mistakenly created from this database. When the “tags” showed up at our polls this morning, we knew immediately they were incorrect, and took corrective action, including instituting a “work around” process and a separate sign in process for those voters. We are confident the quick response was effective, and that no one was denied their right to vote, all votes will be counted, and if anyone voted twice they will be identified and dealt with.