The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #96242   Message #1878807
Posted By: JohnInKansas
08-Nov-06 - 01:58 AM
Thread Name: BS: Election results
Subject: RE: BS: Election results
Almost an aside:

In Kansas, and I believe in many places, one is legally entitled to elect whether to use the voting machine or a paper ballot.

I was clearly informed that this choice was available when I signed in to vote; but when it came my turn I was just led to the machine and was never asked if I'd like a paper ballot.

As to the "touch-screen" voting machines, I found the "touch" extremely sensitive. If you weren't really careful it could detect the wandering finger that was "close to" the screen and enter your vote for that one before "you gave them the real finger" you meant to use.

Once "selected," you had to "touch" that candidate a second time to toggle the selection, before you could "touch" your real choice. Some of the attendants understood this "feature" but others were needing help with it in order to help the confused voters.

The only real glitch reported in my area was that the voting machines all turned themselves off precisely at 7:00 pm when voting closed. The law is clear that anyone in the polling place is to be allowed to complete their voting, but it did take a while to get them turned back on (doesn't this suggest tampering is possible?) to allow those in line to vote.

It appears, from early reports, that incumbent Republican US Representative Jim Ryun probably has been defeated; but the results I've seen are too preliminary to be very reliable. My local newspaper site reports that he's lost, but doesn't say how many votes have been counted at this point.

John