Reply #30: FL: Human (vendor) error slows vote count (Vote Switching, too!)

[Wilms]

Human error slows vote count

Vote counting suffers a two-hour delay because of a technician's mistake.

By WILL VAN SANT, Times Staff Writer

Published March 9, 2006

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A computer server at the elections office froze at 8:38 p.m. Results in Pinellas Park's races were in, but in Palm Harbor votes from only 4 of 22 precincts had been tallied; in Largo, 21 of 38.

After consulting with Sequoia Voting Systems, the county's voting technology supplier, the problem was fixed. At 10:18 p.m., the count began again. Complete results were ready 18 minutes later.

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But the delay was not the only trouble.

At a Pinellas Park voting precinct in the morning, and later in the day at a precinct in Largo, voters reported that touch screen machines were faulty. When a voter selected one candidate, the machine would put a check next to another candidate's name.

That can happen to touch screens, which need to be calibrated regularly, said Michelle Shafer, a Sequoia spokeswoman. Simple handling of the machines rarely causes calibration problems, but repeated use does, she said.

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Browning said with the new touch screen technology, voters have some added responsibility.

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http://www.sptimes.com/2006/03/09/Tampabay/Human_error_slows_vot.shtml