Election Snags

According to CNN’s Matt Smith, long lines and sporadic problems with voting machines caused snags in some key states during Tuesday’s closely watched U.S. election.

For example, in Pennsylvania, nonpartisan election monitors from Philadelphia’s Committee of Seventy said two voting machines had broken down at one precinct on the city’s north side, forcing poll workers to issue provisional ballots. That slowed down an already long line, and at least 30 voters had dropped out, the group said. One of the problems with a provisional vote is that your vote does not have to be opened and counted until later – in some situations, as late as November 17, 2012.

In what has become a controversial attempt to accommodate voters who were displaced by hurricane Sandy, state officials in New Jersey allowed voters to cast ballots electronically or by fax.The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union headed to court this afternoon on behalf of voters who stated that their requests for an electronic ballot were not being recognized by election officials.

The TrustTheVote Project, is addressing a serious problem in voting technology: the lack of open election technology that is demonstrably worthy of the public’s trust. The snags that have and are occurring in many states during today’s elections magnify the problems that The TrustTheVote Project is dedicated to resolve.

– CS