-Caveat Lector-
Machines didn't pass polling test
But all were in use on Election Day
By ANDREA ROBINSON
Miami Herald
Thirteen of 20 voting machines in the two Miami-Dade County
precincts with the highest rates of discarded ballots did not
show votes for at least some candidates during a test-vote
minutes before the polls opened Nov. 7, a review of those tests
by The Herald shows.
Whether those results were caused by improper testing or because
the machines themselves were not recording votes properly is not
clear.
Elections department supervisors say they believe precinct
workers conducted the tests improperly. The precinct workers,
whose initials appear on the test ballots, deny that.
In any case, the machines at Dunbar Elementary in Overtown and
Lillie C. Evans Elementary in Liberty City were not taken out of
service as they should have been.
``I don't know why that would have happened. We always make sure
the holes go through,'' said Sherrill Blue, who initialed three
test ballots at Evans Elementary. Two of those were perfect, but
the third one lacked all 10 punches in the presidential race.
The testers probably didn't press hard enough or didn't hear the
numbers when they were called out, said Gisela Salas, assistant
elections director. ``They didn't do the test properly,'' she
said.
John Clouser, another assistant director, said that test is only
a backup, similar to one conducted at a county warehouse in the
week before an election.
``We punch through every single position just to make sure
everything is OK. If it's OK we send [the Votomatic] out,''
Clouser said, adding that all machines sent to the precincts
passed tests beforehand.
``On election morning, to make sure we didn't send one to the
wrong precinct, the clerk runs a check. If a mistake were to
occur, they could catch it before a poll opened,'' he said.
The two precincts -- Dunbar and Evans elementaries -- had the
highest rate of discarded presidential ballots in the county.
Ballots were rejected when counting machines failed to read
punched holes, or when a voter marked too many candidates.
The Evans precinct had a discard rate of 13 percent of
presidential ballots, or 113 of 868 ballots cast; Dunbar's was
12.8 percent, 105 of the 820 ballots cast.
The results were more than double the rate of discards in the
1996 presidential election. That year at the Evans precinct, 819
presidential ballots were cast and 54 were not counted, a discard
percentage of 6.2 percent. At Dunbar, 754 presidential votes
were registered. Of those 46 were not counted, or 5.8 percent of
the total.
A Herald review showed missed punches on six of the 10 machines
at Dunbar and on seven of the 10 machines at Evans.
In a check of the 10 presidential candidates on the ballots, two
test ballots -- one in each precinct -- lacked punches for any of
them. A third ballot at Evans failed to register a mark for the
number assigned to Vice President Al Gore.
Two of the Evans test ballots also failed to register punches for
Dorothy Bendross Mindingall, the Evans principal who was elected
to the state House of Representatives last month.
By comparison, test results were flawless in the precinct with
the county's lowest percentage of discarded ballots -- St. John
Neumann Catholic Church in Kendall. The Kendall precinct had a
perfect record -- no discarded ballots or mispunched test
ballots.
Larry Williams, an Evans worker whose initials appear on five
test ballots, said the machines were tested 15 minutes before
opening. One poll worker read the all the names or items on the
ballot, and a second worker punched the number corresponding to
each name or item.
After each test, the person who punched the card is supposed to
make sure each hole was completely punched and that each punch
aligned with the number of each ballot item.
When that check is completed, the worker writes on the card his
or her initials and the serial number of the Votomatic. Clouser
said if workers detect a problem, they should take the machine
off line and request a replacement. But he added that he hadn't
seen the test ballots from those precincts and couldn't comment
on them specifically.
``If there are any problems [with test results] they're supposed
to report it to the clerk,'' he said. ``At that point the clerk
should immediately close the lid and set that Votomatic aside so
nobody could get at it to accidentally vote at it.''
On Nov. 7, the two precincts each had an eight-person crew
consisting of a clerk, an assistant clerk, sheriff and five
inspectors. According to elections records, most of the workers
at both precincts had several years of experience, and both
clerks have worked for more than 20 years. Neither of the clerks
could be reached for comment.
Williams and Blue, both workers at Evans precinct 255, were
surprised when they learned that punches were missed on their
cards.
Williams, who has staffed precincts for five years, said he
tested five machines about 15 minutes before the polls opened.
``We take [the ballot] out, check it and initialize. We make
sure it's all right and we turn it into the clerk,'' he said.
When told that a ballot he initialed was missing punches --
including one for Al Gore -- he said he had some difficulty in
punching one of the machines, but managed to work the stylus
through the slot.
``I had to work it a little but it went through,'' he said.
A 70-year-old worker at the Dunbar precinct who said she had
worked one other election initialed a ballot that had no punched
holes in the first four columns. The woman, who did not want to
be identified, said it was her first time testing the machines
but she didn't recall any mishaps.
``When you punched [the hole] you could see whether it went
through if you were paying attention,'' she said.
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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