Early voting began the week of October 18 in many states. Our Election Incident Reporting System (EIRS) has already received numerous complaints from across the country of touch screen/DRE voting machines failing to properly register voters' selections. Over 20% of the electronic voting machine incidents reported so far describe voters having to make repeated attempts to get the voting machines to correctly register their choices. Many of these problems reported during early voting will still be present on election day, so be sure to watch out for them at your polling place.

Because of these problems, it is absolutely vital that voters double-check the selections listed on the final "summary", "proof", or "review" screen prior to casting their votes. If the selections listed on that screen are not what the voter intended, then the voter must page back through ballot and make any needed corrections prior to casting their ballot.

Many of these reports came from voters using ES&S iVotronic touch screen voting machines in Florida and Texas. These voters reported that the iVotronic touch screens registered selections for candidates that the voters had not intended to select. If voters rest their hands or thumbs on or near the edge of the touch screen, then the voting machine can register a selection where none was intended.

This design flaw was identified weeks ago by Professor Doug Jones of the Univerity of Iowa Computer Science Department and noted in section 11 of his pre-election testing report submitted to elections officials in Florida's Miami Dade County. Dr. Jones is a member of the Iowa Board of Examiners for Voting Machines and Electronic Voting Systems and he also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Verified Voting Foundation.

This problem was also reported in the October 18 edition of the San Antonio Business Journal in an article entitled "You touch it, you voted for it". That article reads in part:

A potential user-interface problem has surfaced with the touch-screen voting machines being used during early voting in San Antonio. The problem also could affect voters nationwide.

Bexar County Elections Administrator Clifford Borofsky confirms that the problem is real, but he insists it is a minor issue.

A San Antonio Business Journal reader brought the problem to the attention of the newspaper after he claims his vote was registered for the wrong candidate. He said the bad vote was cast because he inadvertently rested his hand on the screen of the voting kiosk while using his other hand to vote.

"The machine registered the vote from my thumb when I rested my hand on the screen to vote," the reader claims.

The reader says he caught his error on the review screen before finalizing his vote, but he questions whether everyone -- especially new voters -- would do the same.

Borofsky says his office has received only two reports in 60,000 votes cast of votes being registered by individuals inadvertently resting their hand on the voting screen. However, there is no way to know how many people made the mistake without knowing it.

"That's what the review screen is for," Borofsky says, adding that it is the fail-safe built into the system to guard against inadvertent votes.

However, Borofsky does concede that it would be good to make voters aware of the problem, "especially people foreign to the voting process."

Currently, there are no warning signs on the machines or in the polling places to make voters aware of the hyper-sensitivity of the touch-screen voting machines, he says.

Other voters in New Mexico, Texas, and Florida have reported serious problems when attempting to select individual candidates or to vote a straight party ticket. Many voters reported that when they attempted to select one candidate or party, the machine instead registered a choice for a different candidate or party. Voters reported having to make repeated attempts to get the voting machines to finally register their intended selection. For just one such example, see the article Some Voters Say Machines Failed, Incorrect Choices Appear on Screens which appeared in the October 22 edition of the Albuquerque Journal, which reads in part:

Kim Griffith voted on Thursday— over and over and over.
She's among the people in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties who say they have had trouble with early voting equipment. When they have tried to vote for a particular candidate, the touch-screen system has said they voted for somebody else.
It's a problem that can be fixed by the voters themselves— people can alter the selections on their ballots, up to the point when they indicate they are finished and officially cast the ballot.
For Griffith, it took a lot of altering.
She went to Valle Del Norte Community Center in Albuquerque, planning to vote for John Kerry. "I pushed his name, but a green check mark appeared before President Bush's name," she said.
Griffith erased the vote by touching the check mark at Bush's name. That's how a voter can alter a touch-screen ballot.
She again tried to vote for Kerry, but the screen again said she had voted for Bush. The third time, the screen agreed that her vote should go to Kerry.
She faced the same problem repeatedly as she filled out the rest of the ballot. On one item, "I had to vote five or six times," she said.
Michael Cadigan, president of the Albuquerque City Council, had a similar experience when he voted at City Hall.
"I cast my vote for president. I voted for Kerry and a check mark for Bush appeared," he said.
He reported the problem immediately and was shown how to alter the ballot.
Cadigan said he doesn't think he made a mistake the first time. "I was extremely careful to accurately touch the button for my choice for president," but the check mark appeared by the wrong name, he said.
Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera said she doesn't believe the touch-screen system has been making mistakes. It's the fault of voters, she said Thursday.
Cadigan, for example, could have "leaned his palm on the touch screen and it hit the wrong button," she said.
In Sandoval County, three Rio Rancho residents said they had a similar problem, with opposite results. They said a touch-screen machine switched their presidential votes from Bush to Kerry.
... Herrera said she's heard stories from Democrats and Republicans. In some cases, when people have tried to vote a straight ticket, the screen has given their votes to every candidate in the opposite political party, she said.
She believes it's a people problem. "I have confidence in the machines," she said.
"They are touch screens. People are touching them with their palms, or leaning their hand. ... They're hitting the wrong button."
Herrera and others said voters should be diligent about reviewing their touch-screen ballots so they can make alterations.
Griffith said she's afraid some votes will go to the wrong candidates by accident. "People need to know that they have to be careful," she said.
"I'm concerned that people who don't check and double-check will try to vote for a candidate and not realize that the vote went to another candidate," she said.

Other voters reported that when selecting a straight party ticket, either the wrong party was selected, or the correct party was selected but the selection of presidential candidate was wrong. In other cases, voters reported that when selecting a straight party ticket, they voting machine failed to present them with various non-partisan ballot measures.

On Hart InterCivic eSlate voting machines used in Travis County, Texas, a county Democratic party official reports that some voters intending to vote the straight Democratic party ticket have accidentally registered a selection for Bush/Cheney through incorrect usage of the eSlate's "SELECT wheel" and "ENTER" buttons. The official's explanation:

When pressing ENTER after marking Straight Democrat, some voters
inadvertently turned the SELECT wheel one click through the ballot while
meaning to go to the final "PROOF" page. If you hit ENTER at that point,
your cursor is over the first candidate on the ballot: Bush/Cheney. So, the answer to this problem is this: TELL EVERYONE TO PROOF THEIR BALLOT. If there is an error, page back and fix it and/or ask for assistance in doing so. You must fix these things BEFORE you hit CAST BALLOT.

Click here for a current list of recent news reports about these problems from across the nation. Click here for current news reports about the full range of problems in this election.