Diebold: Not quite ready for prime time
 I tried. I wanted to use the touchscreen voting system. I didn't realize what a monumental thing I was asking for. I should have been tipped off by the hesitation at the registration table. They didn't even offer me a choice and handed me a paper ballot. When I asked if I could use the touchscreen, there was that sort of "uh oh" reaction that I should have known wasn't good. The election judges seemed enthralled that someone would actually want to use the new system. "I'm a technology guy" I tried to explain. "A what?" she asked. "Nevermind" I replied.Then the fun began. You would think it would be as easy as walking over to the booth and voting. Nope. First they have to track down the only guy in the precinct with the magical keycard system. He pulls out a little handheld touchpad that I'm guessing electronically imprints a magnetic stripe on a passcard. With much fear in his eyes he followed the instructions on a little laminated card. There was much number punching, and hesitating, and more number punching, and some more hesitating, consulting the laminated card, then starting over, then more number punching. You get the idea. He was either programming my voting card or transmitting the launch codes for a nuclear attack. I think the latter would have been easier. I watched a few people come and go while I waited to do things the modern way. Finally the card was ready and he inserted it into the Diebold machine with a "hope this works" look on his face. I stepped up, pressed Next, and whoops! Wrong ballot. "You know what, I'll just take a paper ballot." He look relieved. I looked annoyed. |
Comments on "Diebold: Not quite ready for prime time"
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kenny said ... (9:35 AM) :
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Millie said ... (10:37 AM) :
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Mark said ... (5:12 PM) :
post a commentI tried too. Same deal! They obviously did not anticipate than anyone would actually choose to vote electronically.
Your average election judge has trouble finding my name on the alphabetized voter roll. Did you really think they could handle a computer?
I'd be curious to hear from someone that successfully used the new machine. So far all I've heard is stories like this one.
kc buzz blog says there's trouble all over. Sounds like more trouble with the election judges than the machines!
I was just happy to make it through the gauntlet of volunteers pushing literature at me and waving signs. Like I need last minute instruction on who to vote for? Very annoying!
I wonder about the volunteer gauntlet myself. As a voter I find it kind of intimidating to try and make my way up the sidewalk without ending up with an armload of literature that I already have multiple copies of at home.
Does this really work? Is anybody swayed by the presence of a candidate's supporter outside the poll? Inquiring minds want to know.
Electioneering is annoying. I say make them all go away. Like I'm going to make up my mind based on some stranger with a t-shirt and a stack of literature.
Election volunteers are creepy. Especially the ones wearing their candidate's t-shirts. Most of them haven't even met the candidate they're working for. All they know is that they are a part of something. Lemmings to the sea.
i had a good experience with the diebold system i used at the KCMO health department this afternoon. i was given the option, and the pass key guy was right there. they answered every question i had about what this will be like in november and all that jazz. this was my second time with a touch-screen, the first was in JoCo and it didn't go so well. Give it another shot. Before long, we'll be voting on the interwebs!
Yeah, I got accosted by Mike Sanders drones like 5 feet from the door of my precinct at 40th and Main. First I told them to back off and pointed at the 25' sign. And then I began to reconsider voting for the guy who would hire people who either can't read, or can't follow the law.
Mark, if your people attack on my way in to vote, I will not be voting for you.
Also, there were hella signs for Ingrid Burnett and Mike Sanders all OVER the grass in front of the door. It was so bad I went in and got the election judge and she immediately came out and started pulling them out. No question they were too close.
Of course, when I drove back by 10 minutes after leaving, someone had put them back up. That's bullshit. I think the candidates who do this should be immediately disqualified. Ethics like this is what had created the (shitty) government we have today.
/rant
rant
I would also say that with this kind of crap with the Diebold machines and everything else we've had to put up with for the last 6 years, anyone who doesn't come to the table with a plan for seceding from the union should just not bother.
Build a 20' high wall around I-435 and declare ourselves an independant nation-state, I say.
/rant
(Oh yeah, and I understand if this one gets deleted...)
Now come on Bob. I wouldn't delete a fellow politico like yourself. Rants are part of what makes a blog interesting!
Don't worry about my supporters joining the gauntlet. I think one of the commentors called them "creepy?" A vote I get because someone sees a volunteer in a Mark Forsythe t-shirt standing outside a polling place is a vote I don't want.
I am one of those people who spent 13 hours today standing outside a polling place wearing a t-shirt with my candidate's name on it and passing out literature to voters who asked for it. Yes, I do know the candidate I was working for. No, I was not paid to do this but felt strongly enough about my candidate to volunteer to work on the campaign.
There was a woman there who accosted voters as they left the polling place and shoved anti-stem cell push cards in their faces. WE, the workers in t-shirts, turned her in and she was asked to leave. By 10 am. So yes, I do think we served a purpose today.
As for those machines, we need to get advance voting in MO, like KS has. You get a paper ballot and you don't have to deal with lines at the polls on election day. It is a great system and seems to be working well in KS. Until we can do something about the Diebold machines, advance voting seems to be a good alternative.
Good luck Mark! And thanks for the neat website. :-)
My experience was quite a bit different - I just wanted to vote the quickest way and the elction workers practically shamed me into using the new machine. I "needed" to learn it, it was "important," and so on...and the guy who helped me use it was very friendly and helpful and answered all my questions pretty knowledgably, for an old-timer.
Make no mistake. I remain undaunted. I will be back in November and I'll once again ask for the touchscreen. I fault the lack of good training of the election workers.
Thank you to everyone for all the comments! This post set a record for this blog. I hope all the first timers will continue to come back and comment. Let me know what's on your minds. I'm always looking for blog fodder.
Mark,
I encountered one of your opponents outside a polling place. He was already handing out his literature! I hope you're not going to be that annoying. I think it's a little early for that kind of campaigning. Believe me I think he lost more votes than he thought he was gaining.
I heard the same thing Millie. My fear is people are going to be sick of the 4th District race before it even gets started. Some voters have been really confused by the public campaigning of my opponents. Parades, art fairs, neighborhood meetings and now polling places. I've received a couple of calls wanting to know why my yard signs weren't up yet!
The time is coming and when I hit the streets I'll be very visible. Right now, let them slug it out and keep annoying the voters. I'll keep blogging and reaching the people who "want" to be reached.