Ohio: No "Sleepovers" For Voting Machines

Citing Security Concerns, Election Official Won’t Allow Poll Workers To Take Voting Machines Home At Night

(CBS/AP)  Ohio's elections chief says she won't allow poll workers to take voting machines home for safekeeping in the days before the November presidential election.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said Tuesday that the practice known as "sleepovers" is an unacceptable security risk.

Many local election officials have argued that the custom makes it easier to transport machines to polling sites.

Otherwise, they would have to hire moving companies to distribute the machines at a cost of thousands of dollars, something they don't have in their budgets.

Brunner says federal money will reimburse counties for the added cost.

Sleepovers are prevalent in Ohio counties that use touch-screen voting machines and are sometimes used in counties with machines that scan paper ballots.

This is the latest decision by the state's chief election official regarding controversial electronic voting machines which she had criticized and gone to court for.

Earlier this month, Brunner sued Premier Election Solutions (formerly known as Diebold Election Systems), accusing the voting machine manufacturer of breach of warranty, fraud, and not fulfilling its contracts, after hundreds of votes in several Ohio counties were "dropped" during March's primary. Those votes were discovered after the fact and reinserted into vote tabulations.

In May Premier claimed that antivirus software and human error were responsible for the glitches, and recommended counties disable the anti-virus software on the tabulating machines. That would have counteracted the state's certification process.

Last December Brunner called for the state to scrap its $21 million electronic touch-screen machines over security concerns.

Brunner this week has also reminded county election boards that, under Ohio law, voters who register within a certain time frame prior to Election Day can be immediately issued an absentee ballot without a reason.

The "no-fault absentee" voting law, passed by a Republican legislature and signed by a Republican governor three years ago, could be used to tap into college campuses, banking thousands of votes in the Sept. 30 to Oct. 6 window. That would benefit Sen. Barack Obama, who enjoys a 2-to-1 lead over Sen. John McCain among 18- to 34-year-olds, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last month.

"This is one of many ways we'll be encouraging our supporters to skip the lines on Election Day and make sure their vote is cast early," said Isaac Baker, an Obama spokesman.

Of the more than 470,000 students enrolled in Ohio's public colleges and universities in 2006, the most recent figures available, nine out of 10 were Ohio residents, the state Board of Regents said. To register to vote in Ohio, a person must be a resident of the state for at least 30 days immediately before an election.

Ohio elections officials say they are working out potential kinks, such as questions about whether a vote counts when it is cast or when it's counted. They also are trying to address potential fears of massive voting fraud, and what effect this influx is going to mean on vote security.

Brunner said absentee ballots are verified once they are cast, and counted after polls close Election Day.

Allowing voters to cast their ballots weeks before Election Day is a growing trend. More than a dozen states permit early voting, and more than two dozen provide an absentee ballot to any registered voter for any reason. The battleground states of Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico allow voters both options.

In Ohio, Republicans are clearly not pleased with same-day registration and voting and have not ruled out a lawsuit against Brunner's office.

"You have to wonder, when they look at what they consider a loophole with such excitement," said Jason Mauk, the Ohio Republican Party's executive director. "That would suggest manipulating the process, and I think opens the door to suspicion."

The voting window, so far, is only being implemented in some counties - typically, urban areas or those with college campuses - leading Republicans to cry foul.

"The prospect of someone coming in with no ID and registering and voting is contrary to every sort of protection that legislators and lawmakers have built into this system for decades," said Kevin DeWine, a Republican lawmaker who is poised to take over the state party after the election. "The processes and the law and the systems in our 88 counties are not equipped to handle same-day registration."

People in Ohio can register without identification, but they have to show some sort of ID to vote.

[teeus]

This is a tragedy in the eyes of Jesus!
Posted by gop_forever

Naw. After all, Jesus was a liberal.

:-)

[teeus]

Citing Security Concerns, Election Official Won%u2019t Allow Poll Workers To Take Voting Machines Home At Night


Im sorry, am I the only one who says a big "NO DUH" to that?

I cant believe that practice was ever acceptable...

[cosmicfluke]

and the media blackout on the Ohio ''04 election problems continues.
Two elections were stolen.

[xyno-2009]

Posted by johndevinejr at 12:46 PM : Aug 20, 2008

Don''t let the FACTS get in the way of a good story ....

"The evidence will show that this recount was rigged, maybe not for political reasons, but rigged nonetheless," Prosecutor Kevin Baxter said. "They did this so they could spend a day rather than weeks or months" on the recount, he said.

In Cuyahoga County, a Democratic stronghold where about 600,000 ballots were cast, the recount did not have much effect on the results. Kerry gained 17 votes and Bush lost six.

[brianbwb-2009]

"McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama''''''''s solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly Reuters/Zogby poll." Posted by mbcsmith

"Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows Barack Obama attracting 45% of the vote while John McCain earns 42%. When "leaners" are included, it%u2019s Obama 47% and McCain 46%"

All depends on who you ask, son.

[usclimey]

Do we want to take a chance on another Republican who probably isn''''t the smartest guy in the room? It''''s time to turn the page.

Posted by slader99

McCain isn''t the smartest guy in the room when he goes to the toilet.

[iuphockey12]

Here''''s John McCain admitting he finished 5th from the bottom of his class. 894th out of 899. In the same clip, he also admits to being computer illiterate. Now I ask the Newsvine community, knowing this individual''''s penchant for backing George Bush policies - approx. 95% of the time the last 4 years: Do we want to take a chance on another Republican who probably isn''''t the smartest guy in the room? It''''s time to turn the page.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by slader99

OH NO! We dont want a president that doesnt know how to use a computer! OMG! he graduated at the bottom of his class! We may actually have a human being being elected! Give me a break LIB, Kerry got all C''s in college and you guys nominated him.

[rushliberal]

If you want to commit fraud - the computer is the Fastest way to do it.

Go back to paper ballots! Screw Electronic Voting!

[xyno-2009]

Hey, when you don''''t stand a chance otherwise, cheating is all you''''ve got left.....

Posted by vnveteran72 at 10:08 PM : Aug 19, 2008

=========================

Ah yes, the ole ''we didn''t lose, they cheated!'' excuse. The Dems lost the last 2 elections because they nominated a couple of idiots. End of story.

[vnveteran72]

Make no mistake, the Neocon Nazis will pull out the stops this year on every Dirty Trick System they have in place. With Perpetual War and Unlimited Profits right at our doorstep, they''ll not go easily into that good night.
Go ahead and vote for Pappy, dimbulbs. You AND your children will be drafted shortly thereafter.
You won''t mind making the ultimate sacrifice so the Ruling Elite can finish consolidating their control over the entire Planet. You''ll all get a nice casket and service paid for by the Reich.
(Goose-Stepping SS Honor Guard provided at a nominal extra charge)