ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION
Now this is interesting. If your voting machine in your precinct wasn’t working this morning, it’s probably because someone left the voting machine off the charger. According to my sources, the circuit breaker blew out so the batteries for the Ivotronic Voting Machines were sitting in chargers that weren’t getting any electricity so they never charged. Marion County Clerk Beth White says they are investigating the problem and don’t know how extensive the problem is. There are approximately 550 of the machines in use in the County. White says voters should still go to the polls and cast their ballots. She says the ballots will be kept in a safe area until the problem is repaired.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Also, there are reports of poll workers looking over shoulders to see ballots. If this is true and it happens to you, say something IMMEDIATELY and then file a voter fraud form.
Personally, when I go vote this afternoon, if I fill out a paper ballot and then have to drop it in a box to be fed in later, I will wait around and do it myself.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:16 am
I voted in Pike 41. Same thing. Scanner didn’t work, and the eagle-eyed poll worker was def. checking to see how I voted.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:33 am
“She says the ballots will be kept in a safe area until the problem is repaired.”
Yeah, a safe area like right on a table versus underneath the voting machine where they are supposed to put them. Why hasn’t Beth White been fired already?
November 6th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Does a person have to move to Havana to get their fricking ballot counted!
November 6th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I voted this am at 43rd & capital, precinct 15. I’m registered as an R. After filling out my ballot, I was told the scanner wasn’t working, and to put my ballot into the (apparently locked) box under the scanner. ABout 15 minutes later, my wife (registered as a D) was able to have her ballot scanned. She asked the precinct people why my ballot had not been scanned, and was told that the scanner was now working, and she was assured that my ballot was scanned, and that they could prove this somehow.
Since then I have been trying to Beth Whites office to ask about this, but no answer (as of 11:30am).
Was I disenfranchised? Who else should I call??
Marvin E. Vollmer MD
November 6th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Good thing Peterson hired a recount attorney. Maybe he’s cutting his own throat?
We could only hope!
November 6th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Marvin,
Call the GOP HQ at 317-635-8881 and report this irregularity. I and a coworker reported ours to them.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Voted at Indy Hebrew Community, 6501 N. Meridian, this morning at 6:30am. Machine was not working but honest looking gentleman asked me to slide balot in slot below the scan feed area. I saw other balots in there and followed his instruction. He said “they’re on their way to fix it”. Not sure who “they” are.
Not plugged in and charged???? Isn’t each voting location indoors and presumably within a structure that has electrical outlets? What am I missing here?
Strike two Beth.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Nick,
Thanks for the advice. I gave them a call.
Marvin
November 6th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
No problems at 0900-ish this AM in the Irvington area.
November 6th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
And just who is going to get all those ballots out of the locked box and properly scan them?
Oh…democrats…I see.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
People, people.
The election is not not rigged. Bart is a little behind in early tallies. Later tonight when he needs the votes the previsouly broken machines and unscanned ballots will be tallied in such a way as to produce a narrow – but not too-narrow – victory. 52-48 will be the final score, and you got 4 more years of Bart.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Your prediction sounds like Carson / Dickerson all over again … let’s hope not.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
I was going to put in my paper sheet and noticed the scanner wasn’t working and the box full of ballots. This was around 8:30am in Lawrence. I asked the worker what the problem was and she simply stated the machines weren’t working. We laughed at the idea that schools could figure out scantron machines but elections couldn’t.
Here’s a stupid question: don’t these voting machines have an electrical cord? Sounds like a design flaw to me.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Jay & Others,
You may want to put the conspiracy theories aside. Have you ever been in a polling place after it closes and witnessed what goes on?
The totals from the machine are compared with the number of ballots, hand-counted. And this is done with representatives from both parties; and they count together to ensure that the tallies aren’t manipulated. Only AFTER that number tallied is agreed upon are the precincts numbers reported back to HQ.
November 6th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Don’t want to speak too soon, but it’s looking pretty good for Ballard and the CC. 76% of the votes in and Ballard has a 6% lead. I wish we knew how much of the Center Township votes are in.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Sorry ’bout the Dem control of the CC?!?
November 7th, 2007 at 12:13 am
Katz is right, and excuse the ramble I’m about to go on, but my day started at 4:30 a.m.
Sorry folks, I’ve been an R inspector and an R judge under elections ran by both parties and there is NO conspiracy at the local level. Nothing but well intentioned volunteers doing their best.
The machines don’t need to work at the time you’re there for them work in the end. If they’re offline when you’re there then after the machines are working and the bi partisan board finds a lull in the action they’ll open that locked box and run the ballots through. The accounting at the end of the day accounts for every single ballot, and the total number of ballots voted in the machine gets cross checked with the number of voted paper ballots and the number of signatures in the poll book.
Beth White had a major fubar in may, trumping her predecessors many fubars, but neither of them are the local volunteers. It always ticked me off when Ed Treacy would call local pollworkers rascists and threaten them with jail time, and it ticked me off when Tom John did it last may. Insults and threats are no way to get folks to work.
IF the fix is in, it ain’t in at the local precinct level. Bottom line though, if you have an issue with how the poll workers at your precinct handle their duties then quit your whining and do the job yourself.
November 7th, 2007 at 12:39 am
Longtime Pollworker let me be the first to say THANK YOU. I know it is because of people like you who come out election after election and stay there all day to ensure I can cast my ballot. There were hiccups at my polling station this morning but I thanked those election workers because I value my right to vote.
November 7th, 2007 at 1:20 am
Ha ha ha ha ha. Best. Election. Headline. Ever! Abdul, was that an original or did you see that somewhere else. ROTFLMAO.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:49 am
The machines at Warren 57 didn’t work until 11:00, perhaps because they weren’t plugged in? And the D-inspector who was in charge of that didn’t want anybody bothering “her” machines, even though several folks tried to rectify the situation? Just a little info.