Paper Tape records other than what you voted – Please take the time to read the paper tape when you vote. If you find that the tape prints something other than what you voted, remember…there are many problems with the machines counting our votes in secret. There is no way to verify that the machine counted your vote as you see it on the screen, nor as the paper tape reads. Yet, if there is a recount audit, the paper record is the voting record. Your vote will be counted as the paper trail reads at such an audit. The paper tape should read the same information as what you voted. If you wear glasses, bring them, some tapes are printed very light, and therefore are hard to read.
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Take Action!
Tell the Poll Worker / Election Judge what happened. Let them know you want the voting machine pulled from use in the election. IMPORTANT! Do not harm or manipulate the machine. It needs to be in the “same condition” for any forensic investigation. Tell the poll worker not to manipulate the machine in an effort to correct the problem. The most important step of taking action is then filing a police report with local law enforcement to document this possible case of election fraud. The statistics later will document how widespread the problem is.
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Typical reflexes to expect to your complaint:
The reflex action of a typical judge when told that a voting machine is malfunctioning is to try to help the voter to get the machine working properly. But, when the malfunction is a mismatch between the faceplate and the paper trail, the normal “be-helpful” response many result in the destruction of evidence in a crime scene.
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Let us say that a voting machine had been reprogrammed to flip every twentieth vote from candidate XX to candidate YY. Such an occasional “malfunction” would not provide an easy-to-detect pattern. Further, it would be reasonable to assume that such a reprogrammed machine would also be set to discontinue using the flipping subroutine when someone tries to correct the apparent “malfunction” by, for example, canceling and re-voting.
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Therefore, it seems reasonable for Poll Workers and Election Judges to be trained on how to react when a voting machine has a mismatch between the faceplate and the paper trail, or for a vote that hops.
(a) Have the voter move away from the machine. Thank the voter for catching the discrepancy, and explain to him/her what just happened.
(b) Place an OUT OF ORDER sign on the machine and report the “malfunction” to independent law enforcement and notify the Board of Elections or election officials in your state of the problem. Then treat the problem voting machine as evidence in a possible crime scene.
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