Dems win, so "[electronic] voting went OK"

So says the Washington Post via the AP (my emphasis):

There is still some fine-tuning to be done, but electronic voting worked well in most of the midterm elections - even with one-third of American voters facing ballot machines they'd never used before. The midterm elections -- which saw Republicans lose control of the House and their majority in the Senate -- were far less troubled than the elections of 2004, when malfunctioning voting machines and crowded polls delayed counts for days, most notably in the crucial swing state of Ohio.

Any problems? Just "hiccups."

The Miami Herald reports on several hassles around Florida, particularly in Fort Lauderdale:

Debra A. Reed voted with her boss on Wednesday at African-American Research Library and Cultural Center near Fort Lauderdale. Her vote went smoothly, but boss Gary Rudolf called her over to look at what was happening on his machine. He touched the screen for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, a Democrat, but the review screen repeatedly registered the Republican, Charlie Crist.

That's exactly the kind of problem that sends conspiracy theorists into high gear -- especially in South Florida, where a history of problems at the polls have made voters particularly skittish.

But not this time, eh?

In New Jersey, voters encountered [Democrat] Senate candidate Bob Menendez's moniker already highlighted on the machine when they entered the voting booth. They had to manually DE-highlight it, and then make their selections. A similar hassle was reported in Virginia -- in Democrat Jim Webb's favor. No word on whether Keith Olbermann will be devoting a week's worth of shows to these "conspiracies."

MSNBC reported "By late afternoon, the Election Protection Coalition phone bank in Washington, D.C., said it had received 13,500 calls to complain about voting problems, but that only about 20 percent represented serious problems."

"Only" 20%. If the election had resulted in Republicans maintaining power, who wants to bet that the word "only" would be excised from that report -- and that that 20% would represent really serious problems?

More:

GCN.com: "E-voting hiccups didn't sway elections."

Columbus (OH) Free Press: "A monumental victory for the election protection movement."

OpEdNews (PA): "2006: A Year to Write Ballads About" which includes the line "Here's to Election Integrity Activists. We didn't know it then; but in the bitter aftermath of the 2004 election, a miracle happened. People all across the United States planted their feet in their communities and said, "You may roll over me this time; but you are not taking this democracy down."

ComputerWorld.com: "Scattered e-voting problems reported. But in many places with past snafus, voting seems to be going smoothly."

CentreDaily.com (PA): "Election smooth despite glitches."

Tallahassee Democrat: "Voting goes well across state."

Daily Journal (MS): "State officials say elections going smoothly, despite minor problems."

Posted by Hube at November 9, 2006 05:04 PM | TrackBack