Still More Voting Machine Problems
I wrote a bunch about the problems with electronic voting machines, and now there’s yet another one, as reported on Rant+Rave.
In a nutshell, some California counties show apparently impossible results for the recall vote.
They show that in Alameda, Kern, and Plumas counties, zero voters didn’t vote on the recall question. Zero. In every other county, at least a few people — from around nine percent to half a percent — skipped the recall question.
But the Diebold machines used in these three counties showed 100% participation.
Suuuuuuuuuuure.
As Argyriou put it on Rant+Rave, “It’s not believable that all 422,269 votes in Alameda County actually voted on the recall, unless the machine forced them to. The zero results with the Diebold systems suggest something more sinister: the Diebold machines discarded the votes of anyone who didn’t vote in the recall, or assumed votes for them.”
This is creepy stuff. And, as I wrote, there’s no way to tell if there’s a software problem, tampering, or what.
(Keep in mind that there are two problems with these machines. One is the overall question about whether or not we can trust the technology. The other is specific to Diebold, whose machines are coming under fire — in part thanks to the company’s CEO, Walden O’Dell, telling the Cleveland Plain Dealer in August that he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”)
More on this, I’m sure.
