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from the confusing-cost-with-effectiveness dept.
Picked via Bruce Schneier's Cryptogram, the story of a massive electronic vote miscount, luckily paper ballots were available
Vote totals in a Northampton County judge's race showed one candidate, Abe Kassis, a Democrat, had just 164 votes out of 55,000 ballots across more than 100 precincts. Some machines reported zero votes for him. In a county with the ability to vote for a straight-party ticket, one candidate's zero votes was a near statistical impossibility. Something had gone quite wrong.
The worse news:
The machines that broke in Northampton County are called the ExpressVoteXL and are made by Election Systems & Software, a major manufacturer of election machines used across the country. The ExpressVoteXL is among their newest and most high-end machines, a luxury "one-stop" voting system that combines a 32-inch touch screen and a paper ballot printer.
The good news was that the chairwoman of the county Republicans realized the numbers made no sense and promptly initiated an investigation. When officials counted the paper backup ballots generated by the same machines, they realized Kassis had narrowly won.
How many trees still need to die until humans learn how to do voting properly?
Note: the original story ran on nytimes, but I respect their choice to not let me read their stories with 'Do not track' activated
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Monday December 16 2019, @10:30PM (4 children)
I'm sure it's just a coincidence that it's ALWAYS the Dem getting under-counted.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Captival on Tuesday December 17 2019, @12:01AM (2 children)
Just like it's a total coincidence that Iran, Russia, Qatar, China, and every other evil oppressive country loves giving money to charity, but only specifically the Clinton Foundation.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 17 2019, @01:14AM
And to the NRA. Funny how triggered you are over a politician that did not win and no one advocates for around here.
Old man yelling at the clouds maybe?
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday December 17 2019, @01:18AM
Just like it's a coincidence that he always has to deny it by saying, "I did *not* have sex with that country."
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday December 17 2019, @04:24AM
Bleh, democrat/republican, brothers in arms, the count between them is meaningless. It's always 95%. The only people being screwed are those that vote independent. There is where you find serious under counting and no way to prove it because there is insufficient demand for paper. And the paper ballots need to be counted always, with or without a contention.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..