from the Election Incident Reporting System (EIRS)
Election Verification Project
Press Conference
November 18, 2004
Summary:
Significant e-voting problems
Almost all vendors products and models
Most jurisdictions where e-voting installed
Impacted at least tens or hundreds of thousands of voters
Results:
Calls fielded by Election Protection Hotline: 175,213 (87,841 on E-Day)
Incident reports in EIRS: 34,000+ and counting (23,726+ on E-Day)
Machine Problem incidents: 1,876+
E-Voting incidents: 895+
Preliminary findings from sample thats still growing, yet not statistically robust
Notable Incidents / Clusters
Florida: Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties
Louisiana: Orleans Parish
New Mexico: Bernalillo County
North Carolina: Carteret County
Ohio: Franklin and Mahoning Counties
Pennsylvania: Dauphin, Mercer, and Philadelphia Counties
Next Steps
Further analysis and reporting of e-voting problems as well as other voting technologies
Discussions with election officials, voting technology vendors, and policymakers to improve elections process, technology, and regulation
For more information:
EIRS incident database at:
http://voteprotect.org/epc/
(click on "Research/Maps")
More about Verified Voting Foundation and Computer Professionals for
Social Responsibility joint development of the EIRS:
http://verifiedvoting.org/eirs/
Election Protection Coalition member organizations:
http://www.electionprotection2004.org/coalition.htm
from the Election Incident Reporting System
Election Verification Project
Press Conference
November 18, 2004
E-Voting Problems Reported:
Machine breakdown
(total malfunction, sometimes entire polling places, power/battery failures,
machines locked, long lines, voters turned away)
Misrecording (Kerry recorded as Bush and vice-versa, touchscreen calibration)
Vote switched
Overcounts and undercounts
Wrong ballot or race/candidate/party slate missing or not working, no write-ins
Prefilled ballot choice
Straight ticket sticking
Unintended deselections
Forced votes to complete ballot
Indicates challenged ballot
Not responding to human touch, just pencil eraser
Disabled accommodation disables other machines at polling place
Non-accessible voting machine, audio component not working
Premature casting
Overwritten votes (prior uncast)
Switched language (English to Spanish), or Spanish-only
Vote card times out, rejected, stuck, not reset, or cancels ballot
Claims vote cast after card removed
Blank screen / screen goes dark
Missing or poor distribution of machines
Audio offers only one candidate
No paper ballot alternative
Paper ballots treated as provisional
Told to use demo machine
Inadequate poll worker training
Not zeroed out at beginning of day
Security seals broken
Infrared port available
Cascading error in machine cluster