Thus, hundreds if not thousands of potential presidential votes -- most for
Democrats -- could have been lost had county officials not discovered the
software error in testing.
A ballot definition file error could cause miscounts or lost votes on any
electronic voting system. The only check on the accuracy of these files
occurs during pre-election testing.
The M100 tabulator is used in numerous swing states such as Montana, Iowa
and Indiana, according to VerifiedVoting.org, a nonpartisan group that
tracks electronic voting issues.
"The main thing is this is a recoverable error," said Pam Smith, president
of the Verified Voting Foundation. "In New Mexico they have paper ballots.
They can recount them if you need to. New Mexico has a (vote count) audit
provision (in state law). Š In another state, if this happens, you could
miss a ballot definition file error."
"That is something that other jurisdictions should be aware of," Smith said.
"They should do pilot audits."
Steven Rosenfeld is a senior fellow at Alternet.org and author of Count My
Democrats -- could have been lost had county officials not discovered the
software error in testing.
A ballot definition file error could cause miscounts or lost votes on any
electronic voting system. The only check on the accuracy of these files
occurs during pre-election testing.
The M100 tabulator is used in numerous swing states such as Montana, Iowa
and Indiana, according to VerifiedVoting.org, a nonpartisan group that
tracks electronic voting issues.
"The main thing is this is a recoverable error," said Pam Smith, president
of the Verified Voting Foundation. "In New Mexico they have paper ballots.
They can recount them if you need to. New Mexico has a (vote count) audit
provision (in state law). Š In another state, if this happens, you could
miss a ballot definition file error."
"That is something that other jurisdictions should be aware of," Smith said.
"They should do pilot audits."
Steven Rosenfeld is a senior fellow at Alternet.org and author of Count My
Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting (AlterNet Books, 2008).
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