Florida Voting Machines Break Down On First Day

A local news station in Florida reports problems with machines on the first day of early voting:

People lined up to be among the first to vote at several early voting sites around Jacksonville Monday morning had an extra long wait and some left frustrated when machines at several locations refused to record the ballots.

"It was very shocking to have the very first ballot at 10 o'clock this morning not go into the machine," said state Rep. Audrey Gibson, who hoped to be first to vote at the Gateway location.

The Duval County elections office confirmed problems with voting machines at the Gateway Shopping Center and libraries on Edgewood Avenue, at Regency Square and Webb Wesconnett. Channel 4 heard from voters experiencing problems at other polling places, as well.

The Duval County elections office confirmed problems with voting machines at the Gateway Shopping Center and libraries on Edgewood Avenue, at Regency Square and Webb Wesconnett. Channel 4 heard from voters experiencing problems at other polling places, as well.

"I was frustrated with all the breakdowns of the machines," Westside voter John Lord said. "How long have they had to had this all fixed and ready to go and they knew it was an important election and that there would be a big turnout."

West Virginia voters have reported machines flipping their votes from Democratic to Republican.

If you know of any problems with voting machines in your area, please let us know.

Comments

[ArcEnCiel]

Does the -M c C a i n- campaign pay -C N N- A n d e r s o n C o o p e r ? 360 is now the place to spread G O P's talking points!

[my401k]

Yes I kind of felt that Anderson Cooper became a mouthpiece for McCain Campaign.

[GingerB]

It's not just AC 360, it's CNN. It's become FAUX DEUX.

[123dee]

Jack Cafferty is the only honest person on CNN, Campbell Brown is not bad.
Wofle and Lou Dobbs are the worst.

[GingerB]

I wish CNN would trade Jack Cafferty to MSNBC. CNN can have David Gregory.

[special muppet]

I cannot believe what I've been seeing on CNN during this campaign. They have given a great deal of air time to the views of that dreadful Bachman woman. They'll take Obama's comment about McCain being 'erratic in a crisis' and lay it side by side with 'palling around with terrorists' as if they are somehow proof that both sides are as bad as each other.

They jumped straight in and accused ACORN of voter fraud with perhaps one of the most misleading reports I have ever seen. Then they kept bashing away at it even though it became clear that what they had reported was untrue.

They haven't mentioned Palin's links to the Alaskan Independence Party, or really called her out over her reaction to the Troopergate report. They have barely commented on the fact that Palin has given almost no interviews or press conferences.

CNN has been a disgrace during this election. We expect it from Fox but now we have to expect it from CNN too.

[lemonyashes]

I wrote to them about that Acorn report and told them it was the worst reporting I'd ever seen. After this election any and every free thinking person should boycott CNN first. I suggest 1 and only 1 person be the designated watcher of CNN and then report anything of interest to us here at HuffPo. That's what I do, I like Campbell Brown but I wait to hear if she made news here because I'm already boycotting CNN. And if I hear anything I don't like I complain to them incessantly. I'd do the same about David Gregory at MSNBC but I still can't figure out how to contact them.

[lemonyashes]

They are the SLY FOX news.

[McCrazy]

The good news is they replaced the faulty machines and this WAS NOT A VOTE FLIPPER!! Unlike West Virginia, it was a bunch of crappy machines breaking down!! God what idiots!!

[SeeDaddy]

Diebold and others touchscreen ATMs at banks don't have these problems. ATMs and voting machines use the same technology. If the voting machines were properly built and programmed, they would work correctly. As an IT professional, it seems apparent that the touchscreen voting machines have been intentionally programmed to make errors or to confuse voters into making mistakes. Proper, standard quality control at the factory would have revealed the problems and then the problems should have been fixed. The large number of problem machines reported in several states indicates the problem is too widespread to be unintentional. The user interface on these voting machines fall way short of professional, technical and industry standards. It has to be intentional.

[sanywhere]

florida machines were the kind that you fed the ballot into and it read it. the touch screen was only for telling it when you were done. and what precinct.

[SimJack]

Once again the prodigious pendulous penisula seems to be swinging freely in the hot gulf stream of discontent. Can anyone actually count down there anymore? Hope I didn't mispel anything.

[sanywhere]

Being from South Florida, I find this offensive. Also, you should worry more about your grammar than your spelling.

[MizFlagPin]

We're pulling for our fellow Floridians. If you guys need help, call one of the national numbers.

[MyAudacity]

When I go cast my vote, if it flips, or if the machine malfunctions....they may as well close the place, because nobody else will be allowed to vote until it's fixed. That's exactly how much hell I will raise!

[fiorastar]

That's what every one of us needs to pledge!!!! I live in Oregon, where we vote by mail and every single vote is on a paper ballot and, if there is a question, hand counted by a bi-partisan team under close supervision by poll watchers.

I only wish the Obama campaign had listened to my plea to use some of those funds we've been pouring into his coffers to fly Oregonians to Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Michigan, wherever we could help with exactly what you are talking about.

Since most of you can vote early, please do so, and then PLEASE keep volunteering to help and watchdog at your polling places!

We cannot let them steal it again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNYA5ggwG84

www.gregpalast.com

[beden7068]

You won't be alone. In my state (not sure if it's everywhere), they also are supposed to tally the machines every hour and post it on the door. If that doesn't happen or the numbers don't change. I'll raise hell about that too.

[vernbvb]

That won't mean a lot if you have rigged machines or machines where the votes can be tampered with. I wouldn't trust that process that you are describing.

[mike53]

With all of the acorn fraud there may be more than one "Florida" this year.

[sanywhere]

keep pushing that lie. if they are fake names that have already been caught, how can they vote?

[fiorastar]

ACORN is NOT committing fraud. ACORN is and has been a long recognized legitimate organization that supports the enfranchisement of low-income and minority citizens. It is true that this demographic very strongly votes Democratic, but that is not the Democrats fault.

ACORN follows the law meticulously in every state--and that law requires that ALL completed voter registrations are turned in. This is to prevent the kind of REAL vote fraud that the Republicans have been perpetrating for years--only turning in Republican registrations and throwing Democratic registrations in the trash.

ACORN even goes the extra mile to flag any potentially invalid registrations to make things easier for the elections office where they get turned in. These invalid registrations happen because sometimes it is low-income people working for ACORN and there is occasionally one who will make up registrations or fill in information if they did not get a complete registration, because they depend on the number of registrations for their income.

While this is not the best of situations, it is known about and ACORN pays attention and flags these so they do not result in real registration of a fraudulent voter.
Even if they miss some, these do not result in actual voting! Mickey Mouse doesn't show up at the polling place on Election Day, and neither does anyone's dead grandpa.

This is a total red herring to deflect from the very real vote fraud perpetrated by the Republican neo-con machine.

[vernbvb]

And, fact of the matter is that voter fraud can only be committed by a voter who is intentionally corrupting the electoral process. In other words, at least an attempt to cast a vote before one can be tried for voter fraud. Registration forms are not counted as votes. So the organization ACORN is not involved in voter fraud and should not have to defend themselves against the process of attempting to corrupt the process.

They may be blamed for poor training of personnel and administration of voter registration but that is about it.

[JungleRoses]

So is America going to allow this to happen again and the Republican's steal the election? I call this socialism and it's the grail against democracy!

[shengirl]

socialism? Try fascism.

[GingerB]

If the GOP steals this election, I think you'll see the biggest march on Washington DC ever. People will be heading there from all parts of the country any way they can.

[Peapod123]

I live in Jax. Voted for Senator Obama early this morning with no problem at all- there were long lines but for the most part, everything ran smoothly. Of course I live in a predominantly Republican area. The problem areas reported just so happen to be in communities were there are likely to be a lot of Democrats and(gaspgasp!) African American voters. Hmmm? Something doesn't sound right.

As a campaign volunteer, this is a story I'll be following very closely although I know we have poll watchers there, this is Florida. ( I even took a picture of my ballot because I don't trust those damn machines. The only thing that keeps me from full fledged paranoia is the fact that we have to use paper ballots, how pathetic is that in 2008- we only had 4 frikin years to prepare! )

[MizFlagPin]

Great oversight!! Thank you!!

[xargaw]

What is wrong with a paper ballot and a #2 pencil?

[white mende man]

Too honest, can't have that sorry.

[enlighteninglad]

Nothing as far as I'm concerned. Ohio is offering that as an alternative and I suggest everyone use them if they want their vote to count. E-voting will, as in W. Virginia, flip your vote or can be flipped in a matter of minutes after all is done. These machines, especially the ones without paper trails, paper BALLOTS, should not be trusted. Remember 2004!


http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/hackingdemocracy/

[beden7068]

You see paper ballots leave a trail which can be recounted. We just can't have that can we?

[sanywhere]

there are paper ballots that are kept in case the machines do this. i voted in miami today and you fill out a paper ballot, insert it in the machine and it reads it, counts it. the paper ballot is kept for backup.

[Topfeeder]

I voted today in Jacksonville today and had no problem at all. Spoke with my brother in St. Augustine and he had no problem either.

[vernbvb]

Yeah, but will your vote be counted?

[Sparty1]

This is utterly ridiculous. I mean it's not like we vote every 25 yrs or something. This happens EVERY 2 yrs. Why do the folks handling the elections act like they can't possibly get this thing right?

[firewmn]

*********

RECOUNT.......

RECOUNT.......

RECOUNT.......

RECOUNT.......

RECOUNT.......

WHO CAN FORGET...

[forpeace]

*

Something's wrong with Florida ........... every election FL is the problem.

*

[sanywhere]

last election it was OH. not florida

[forpeace]

*

Why is there always a problem in Florida?!

*

[SteadyOn]

Probably because Florida has not had so many levers pulled for a Democrat since Diebold got involved.....overloaded the system there!

[mike53]

They also were not programmed to handle acorn out of state voters..just does not compute.

[vernbvb]

Who says the problem is only in Florida. Wake-up America. Get up - get up and stop allowing the disenfranchisement of voters.

[unite4change]

The problems always happen when the is a republican secretary of state and govenor. Remember Florida's Secretary of State, Ms. Harris in 2000. Please contact the following Florida representatives to let them know, we will not tolerate the voting problem this year:

Kurt S. Browning - Secretary of State
Telephone [phone]
Fax [phone]
TDD Line 850.245.6096
Florida Relay Service (TDD) 800.955.8771
Email [e-mail]

Charlie Crist - Governor of Florida
Telephone [phone]
Fax [phone]
TTY Line 850.922.7795
OR
711 (Florida Telecommunication Relay)
Email [e-mail]

We must let Florida know, we and the world are watching them this year.