Posted by
Rational Mind on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 11:32:05 AM
I just voted in Utah County, Utah. The electronic voting machines were down from 7am to 8:50 am, according to one person in line. I arrived at 8:45 am to the poll station. There was a small line when I got there but the poll workers got the machines up and running after about 5 minutes. After the machine was working the voting went very easily.
According to one poll worker the problem was with the machine that programmed the voting card. Each voter gets a card which gives them the right ballot on the voting machine and also authorizes them to vote once and only once. The machine that programs the card was not working. Each polling location should have had a "Supervisor" card in order to solve the problem. They had an envelope that said "Supervisor" on it but when they opened the envelope there was no card. Because the poll workers where well trained, they were able to convert a voting machine to program the cards.
I like the electronic voting better than the punch paper ballots because I can check and change my votes at any time. I know my vote is the way I wanted it to be and I know my vote is being counted. With the punch paper ballots I was never sure if I had punched the right hole, because sometimes they did not exactly line up.
Good job, poll workers in Utah County!