WABC: Voting problems reported in NJ (Voters can't vote for GOP candidate!)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=elections&id=4737362

Voting problems reported in NJ

WABC By Dave Evans

(New Jersey - WABC, November 7, 2006) - The US Attorney for New Jersey has dispatched investigators to run down complaints of voting machine problems which are preventing voters from casting ballots for GOP Senate hopeful Tom Kean, Jr.

The counsel for the NJ Republican State Committee, Mark Sheridan, says he has four sworn affidavits and has received more than two dozen calls alleging that some of New Jersey's electronic voting machines were either "pre-voted" for Democratic incumbant Bob Menendez, or were otherwise inoperable when voters sought to cast votes for Kean.

Sheridan says complaints had come in from five NJ counties, some of the polling places affected are in Passaic, Paterson, Scotch Plains and North Bergen, though Sheridan refused to be more specific, citing a fear of depressing voter turnout in the affected locations.

Sheridan called the complaints a "disturbing" trend and threatened court action if election officials were unable to correct the problem and prevent its recurrence.

Sheridan said he'd received complaints of problems at more than seven locations affecting multiple voters at multiple and identical locations.

...

Added second story

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1994&Itemid=113

New Jersey: Widespread Problems with Voting Machines Calls Key Senate Race Into Question

By Warren Stewart, VoteTrustUSA
November 07, 2006

Voting Equipment: Sequoia Advantage push-button electronic voting machines

Reports of widespread machine malfunctions in Essex and Camden counties may effect the outcome of New Jersey's closely watched Senate race. Essex County was the last of New Jersey's counties to switch to computerized voting. At midday some precincts still did not have working machines and many had run out of emergency and provisional paper ballots.

As usual election officials were downplaying the problems. 1010 WINS reported:

Phyllis Pearl, Camden County elections superintendent, said the county had problems with about 30 of its 700 machines, but reported no major problems. Pearl said the problems did not affect voting.

David Wald, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, said about 25 machines didn't work properly Tuesday in Irvington, East Orange, Montclair, Newark and West Orange in Essex County, which has about 600 voting machines.

In a race that could be decided by a few thousand votes. the failure of 5% of the machines in the stronghold of incumbent candidate Robert Menendez could easily call the election results into question.