On Tuesday American Citizens went to the polls to vote in the mid term elections. The polling stations used electronic voting machines. This new technology was introduced in response to the debacle of the 2000 elections. It sounds good right? Using computer technology to capture and count votes. As I am not a citizen I can’t vote, but I do get to sit on the side lines and watch the action.
In comparison to South African electoral ballots, the USA ballots are remarkably complex. In Colorado this year there were over 40 issues to decide. The ballots go on for pages and pages. As a voter you really have to do your homework – prior to elections all registered voters receive a sample ballot, and then the different issues, people, and amendments that have been put on the ballot. The voter receives a summary of each proposal, and an argument for and against. In addition to that newspapers and local magazines create editorials about the issues and support for or against. Then one has to listen to the endless drone of political ads.
In the City and County of Denver jurisdiction there were some glitches in the electoral process. The new technology could not cope with the turnout. This resulted in long lines all day long. It reminded me a little of the South African elections that I participated in. The longest people stood in line were about 3 hours.
Denver’s Mayor Hickenlooper was furious with the delays.
The City and County of Denver’s Auditor, Dennis Gallagher has raised some concerns not only about the Denver Election Commission’s procedures, but about the contract that the City has with the vendor who supplied the Voting Machines.
In May 2006 Gallagher raised issue with the Contract that the City had with Sequoia Voting Systems. Check out his letter here.
Then there’s more…
In June 2006 Gallagher raises concerns with the ability of the Denver Election Commission to handle the upcoming elections. He highlights the following issues:
More voter registration data is missing. This missing data is even more
troublesome than that which has already been reported and about which I wrote you
last week. This is newer registration data contained on easily accessed CDRoms.
Because of the electronic format the data is easily searched and opens the door not
only to Identity Theft, but vote fraud. These CDs have apparently just disappeared;
• There is no strategic plan – no road map, no blueprint – for successfully conducting
this year’s elections. For the first time, Denver will not be using traditional precinct
polling places but vote centers. Just given that change and the confusion that change
may engender, the potential for problems on election already exists. Moreover,
conducting an election under normal circumstances without a strategic plan would be
problematic; doing so under a brand-new untried system with out a strategic plan is a
huge
The voting machines are not working. There are problems with the firmware that
operate the machines so no testing of the machines can occur. Based on the
information I have, there is no prediction as to when this problem will be resolved;
• The ‘electronic poll book’ has not been created. Because of that and because of the
problems with the voting machines, the mock election that needs to be conducted in
advance of every election to test procedures and identify problems in sufficient time
before the election to be fixed has not occurred. Yet we are less than 50 calendar days
away from the August election;
• Staff morale is low resulting employee turnover. This means a loss of institutional
memory and know-how that can directly impact planning for elections. This is
particularly troublesome with regard to the recruitment and training of election judges;
judges that are particularly critical to elections being held under the circumstances
contemplated.
mistake and a recipe for disaster;
Then in September 2006 Gallagher writes that
It has come to my attention that some hardware purchased from Sequoia Voting Systems under contract GE61152 may be flawed and not operable.
In a subsequent letter from Gallagher to the Election Commission he writes
I understand that this is used equipment and that it was previously owned by either the City of Chicago or Cook County, Illinois and according to election’s officials in Chicago the hardware was flawed and created problems during an election there earlier this year. This is consistent with the problems experienced here in the Primary Election and would certainly suggest that there is a problem with this hardware.
Then here is Gallagher’s response to the November elections. Boy is he mad!
I am outraged! In fact, outrage does not even begin to describe how I feel
about the debacle that was yesterday’s voting fiasco in Denver. What makes this worse is
that for months I have been warning the Commission, the Administration and the City
Council that there were problems and that I did not believe that the Commission was
prepared to successfully conduct elections this year. In June I said that in regard to the
problems and the lack of preparedness for the coming elections ‘a tsunami is coming and
we are not prepared.’
Moreover, Tuesday was not the beginning of the problems it was the culmination of a
long list of problems that began with the Primary Election in August.
And here’s more…
Yesterday I said heads should roll and I mean that.
To read the entire press release from Gallagher go here. For a list of all press releases from the Auditor’s Offices go here.
