Voting Machines in Six West Virginia Counties Report Vote Flipping on ES&S Machines

Also from Black Box Voting Forums:

SUMMARY: Jackson, Putnam, Berkeley, Ohio, Monongalia and Greenbrier, all using ES&S iVotronic voting machines, now have voters reporting that when they voted for one candididate the machine lit up a different one. (Don't be too quick to accept the calibration excuse. A Tennessee machine flipped voter choice to a candidate five lines down, ruling out calibration as the real reason.)

Voting machine complaints continue
Voters encouraged to review ballots before confirming

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A few voters from different counties continue to experience problems with electronic machines during early voting.

Eleven early voters from three counties - Jackson, Putnam and Berkeley - previously reported having problems with voting machines to the Charleston Gazette. At least five more voters in three other counties - Ohio, Monongalia and Greenbrier - recently reported similar problems.

A Wheeling Intelligencer editorial noted, "A few people who have cast ballots last week at the Ohio County early voting station in the City-County Building have reported difficulties.

"When they tried to select specific candidates on the touch-screen machine, votes instead were reported for their choices' opponents."

The Ohio County newspaper's Wednesday editorial added, "Voting machines taken to every polling place in every county should be recalibrated after they are moved - then tested to ensure they are functioning properly."

The Morgantown Dominion Post reported Melissa Turner, an early voter in Morgantown, was trying to vote for Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, when the machine switched her vote.

Monongalia County Clerk Carye L. Blaney told The Charleston Gazette, "I don't think it is serious. I don't think it is a problem with the machine.

"Everyone touches the machine differently. The machine, by design, is sensitive. If you touch it with a finger, you may put pressure above the line where the candidate is, or below.

"But the machines clearly show you who you voted for. It puts a large green check mark next to the candidate.

"Melissa Turner was trying to press the machine with her thumb. We have purchased a stylus-pointed device that has a narrow tip that you can use to make your selection.

"Some counties use the eraser end of a pencil. They are both narrow, easier to touch and easier for the screen [on voting machines] to identify," Blaney said on Thursday.

S.E. Dalton, an early voter in Greenbrier County, stated, "I too had my presidential vote changed from Obama to McCain when I cast my vote in Greenbrier County. As soon as it happened, I stated to the attendant, 'I didn't vote for him.' She handed me a pencil and instructed me to use the eraser to touch the screen as, 'It is very sensitive.'"

In an e-mail, Dalton wrote he uses a wide variety of computer technology and programs every day.

"I can tell you that in no way was the unauthorized vote change a result of user error," Dalton wrote. "Voters must use great caution when casting their votes if the election results are to truly reflect the decisions of the voters of West Virginia."

West Virginia's electronic voting machines are all made by Election Systems & Software, or ES&S, based in Omaha, Neb.

Wood County Clerk Jamie Six believes problems are caused when county officials do not calibrate and align voting machines properly.

Charleston Gazette - Oct. 27, 2008 By Paul J. Nyden

http://wvgazette.com/News/200810270020