Problems arose frequently.

Voters from the North Shore to the South Side reported that selected
touch-screen voting machines weren't working, and said they also
encountered problems with new, oversized, optical-scan paper ballots.

Around the county, vital internal switches weren't flipped, power
cords were missing or misplaced, audio equipment for blind voters was
not installed or did not work properly, and the new touch-screen
machines malfunctioned.

The problems would be frustrating anywhere, but they stood out even
more starkly in heavily Democratic Chicago.

On the city's South Side, only Republican ballots registered on the
optical scanner at the Providence of God Early Learning Center, 1814
S. Union St.

"It's a landslide," Republican election judge David Masak said, trying
to diffuse the situation with humor.

"As of right now, I can tell you we are officially the only precinct
in Chicago that is going 100-percent Republican."

That was at midday.

The good humor melted away after four visits from elections officials
failed to make the scanner work.

Of the 57 ballots cast in the 25th Ward's heavily Democratic 31st
Precinct, only its seven Republican ballots have been counted.

The precinct's 50 Democratic ballots were dropped in a lock box, Masak
said, and judges were told to drive them downtown if the machines
didn't fix themselves by 7 p.m.

Electronic woes plagued other polling stations.

In Oak Park, election judges arrived at Barrie Center early Tuesday
and discovered the optical scan and touch-screen machines wouldn't
work properly.

For several hours, voters had to mark their ballots by hand and stick
them in a locked box suspended above one of the new machines, which
spit out a confusing ribbon of paper that had the judges paging
furiously through a 131-page manual for answers.

At one point, a dozen repair technicians showed up to test the faulty
equipment.

It turned out someone had forgotten to flip an internal switch in
another device that authorizes each voter and transmits the results.

At Chute Middle School in Evanston, voters only cast paper ballots
when the electronic touch screen didn't work.

"The little memory card is kaput," said election judge Jerry Smith.

Among the paper ballots cast by 1 p.m., Smith said five or six out of
57 had been spoiled because voters had accidentally filled in more
than one candidate for several judgeships.

The error wouldn't have occurred if the voters had been able to use
the electronic touch screen to vote, Smith said.

Across town at Evanston's Grace Lutheran Church, election judge Carol
Straus lamented low turnout and three machines that failed to work:

The electronic touch screen, the election counter, and the scanner
that counted the manual votes.

"It took 3 1/2 hours for them to get here to fix things," Straus said.


From The Chicago Tribune, 3/21/06:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060321voterproblems,1,1831943.story?coll=chi-news-hed

High-tech voting hits snags

By John McCormick and James Janega
Tribune staff reporters


As election officials closed the polls Tuesday evening, reports of
glitches from throughout the day continued as both voters and election
officials learned how to deal with a new, high-tech voting system in
Chicago and suburban Cook County.

The learning curve for the new system, which combines optical-scan
paper ballots and electronic touch-screen machines, left some missing
the old days -- even if they included the notorious punch-card ballot
and its hanging, dimpled and pregnant chads.

"It was easier to worry about hanging chads," said Daniel Fore, an
election judge in Oak Park's Barrie Center polling place.

Even as election officials continued to deal with missing ballots,
power cords and ballots, they were bracing for the next test of the
more than $50 million system:

Counting and reporting results to eagerly awaiting politicians, voters
and reporters.

In the past few elections, officials said, they have typically been
able to report results from more than 90 percent of precincts within
an hour of the polls closing.

They refused to predict how long the count would take this year,
though they stressed it may take several hours more.

At Lowell Elementary School on the city's Northwest Side, the only
touch-screen voting machine was locked up around 6 p.m.

It had been that way since about 4:30 p.m. after a voter tried to use
it and the message:

"Election verify. Please wait" appeared on the screen.

"We're not planning to use the machine any more," said election judge
Julio Vargas.

"What can we do other than vote the old fashioned way?"

_______________________________________________________

What a mess.

Harry

Problems arose frequently.

Voters from the North Shore to the South Side reported that selected
touch-screen voting machines weren't working, and said they also
encountered problems with new, oversized, optical-scan paper ballots.

Around the county, vital internal switches weren't flipped, power
cords were missing or misplaced, audio equipment for blind voters was
not installed or did not work properly, and the new touch-screen
machines malfunctioned.

The problems would be frustrating anywhere, but they stood out even
more starkly in heavily Democratic Chicago.

On the city's South Side, only Republican ballots registered on the
optical scanner at the Providence of God Early Learning Center, 1814
S. Union St.

"It's a landslide," Republican election judge David Masak said, trying
to diffuse the situation with humor.

"As of right now, I can tell you we are officially the only precinct
in Chicago that is going 100-percent Republican."

That was at midday.

The good humor melted away after four visits from elections officials
failed to make the scanner work.

Of the 57 ballots cast in the 25th Ward's heavily Democratic 31st
Precinct, only its seven Republican ballots have been counted.

The precinct's 50 Democratic ballots were dropped in a lock box, Masak
said, and judges were told to drive them downtown if the machines
didn't fix themselves by 7 p.m.

Electronic woes plagued other polling stations.

In Oak Park, election judges arrived at Barrie Center early Tuesday
and discovered the optical scan and touch-screen machines wouldn't
work properly.

For several hours, voters had to mark their ballots by hand and stick
them in a locked box suspended above one of the new machines, which
spit out a confusing ribbon of paper that had the judges paging
furiously through a 131-page manual for answers.

At one point, a dozen repair technicians showed up to test the faulty
equipment.

It turned out someone had forgotten to flip an internal switch in
another device that authorizes each voter and transmits the results.

At Chute Middle School in Evanston, voters only cast paper ballots
when the electronic touch screen didn't work.

"The little memory card is kaput," said election judge Jerry Smith.

Among the paper ballots cast by 1 p.m., Smith said five or six out of
57 had been spoiled because voters had accidentally filled in more
than one candidate for several judgeships.

The error wouldn't have occurred if the voters had been able to use
the electronic touch screen to vote, Smith said.

Across town at Evanston's Grace Lutheran Church, election judge Carol
Straus lamented low turnout and three machines that failed to work:

The electronic touch screen, the election counter, and the scanner
that counted the manual votes.

"It took 3 1/2 hours for them to get here to fix things," Straus said.


From The Chicago Tribune, 3/21/06:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060321voterproblems,1,1831943.story?coll=chi-news-hed

High-tech voting hits snags

By John McCormick and James Janega
Tribune staff reporters


As election officials closed the polls Tuesday evening, reports of
glitches from throughout the day continued as both voters and election
officials learned how to deal with a new, high-tech voting system in
Chicago and suburban Cook County.

The learning curve for the new system, which combines optical-scan
paper ballots and electronic touch-screen machines, left some missing
the old days -- even if they included the notorious punch-card ballot
and its hanging, dimpled and pregnant chads.

"It was easier to worry about hanging chads," said Daniel Fore, an
election judge in Oak Park's Barrie Center polling place.

Even as election officials continued to deal with missing ballots,
power cords and ballots, they were bracing for the next test of the
more than $50 million system:

Counting and reporting results to eagerly awaiting politicians, voters
and reporters.

In the past few elections, officials said, they have typically been
able to report results from more than 90 percent of precincts within
an hour of the polls closing.

They refused to predict how long the count would take this year,
though they stressed it may take several hours more.

At Lowell Elementary School on the city's Northwest Side, the only
touch-screen voting machine was locked up around 6 p.m.

It had been that way since about 4:30 p.m. after a voter tried to use
it and the message:

"Election verify. Please wait" appeared on the screen.

"We're not planning to use the machine any more," said election judge
Julio Vargas.

"What can we do other than vote the old fashioned way?"

_______________________________________________________

What a mess.

Harry