Wilkinsburg voting dispute raises questions about ballot verification

Wednesday, December 24, 2008
By Deborah M. Todd, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Voting discrepancies at one Wilkinsburg polling place are being used by voters' rights organizations to argue that the state needs a better system of ballot verification.

Richard King, of VotePA, wrote a letter to the Allegheny County Elections Bureau last month requesting an investigation into Wilkinsburg's Ward 1, District 6 election returns after he learned the number of votes cast in that district exceeded the number of voters who signed in to access the machines by 10 votes.

Mr. King said he reviewed the total tapes from the district himself and found that 591 voters signed in and 601 votes were cast.

Mark Wolosik, elections bureau division manager, cited machine malfunctions and human error as the likely reasons for the discrepancy.

He said the local board of elections did not follow proper procedure in activating voting machines that were compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and some board members admitted they may have erred in recording the names of voters.

Mr. King said the problem of "phantom ballots" is not uncommon with the new voter verified machines and voters should be able to verify their own votes with a paper copy of the ballot they cast.

"If you ask the division of elections how prevalent discrepancies are between ballots cast and voters voting on the machine, you won't be able to get an answer because they said they don't keep that record," he said.

Celeste Taylor, of the Black Political Empowerment Project and PA Voice, said the county should do a better job of training election workers to avoid errors, particularly in regard to ADA-compliant machines.

"They didn't train them properly," she said. "The Help America Vote Act was set in 2002 to do just that.

"In 2004, there were a lot of blind voters that were disenfranchised. Also, when they go to vote and are treated like second-class citizens, we know what that's like."

Mr. Wolosik said no voters were turned away due to machine malfunctions. He also said the total number of votes cast for the precinct does not exceed the number of people admitted to voting machines, so there was no error in the actual number of votes tabulated, even if there was an error in the number of voters recorded by poll workers.

Ms. Taylor, who is a lead plaintiff on a lawsuit challenging the state's use of ES&S IVotronic and M650 central count scanners to record votes, said the machine error wasn't so much the issue as was providing transparency to voters.

"It doesn't matter if it's not the machine," she said. "Our goal at the end of the day is to make sure voters aren't disenfranchised."

Deborah M. Todd can be reached at dtodd@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1652.
First published on December 24, 2008 at 5:59 am
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08359/937272-56.stm

Constitution Study Lessons

What: Constitution Study Lessons starting January 16, 2009. EVERY THIRD FRIDAY

When: January 16, 2009 7:00 PM

Where: Copy the link below to find out!

Meetup Description: Constitution Study Lessons starting January 16, 2009. EVERY THIRD FRIDAY OF THE MONTH at 7:00 p.m. at 305 Center Avenue, West View, PA 15229. Presented in a series of DVDs taught by Dr. Earl Taylor. Dr. Taylor’s study courses appeal to a wide range of participants, from high school students to state legislators. The materials used in the presentation are from the National Center for Constitutional Studies. It teaches the U.S. Constitution in the tradition of America’s Founding Fathers. NCCS has taught thousands of families throughout America the original principles and ideas drafted by our Founding Fathers. The lessons acknowledge that American and the Constitution were established by the hand of God, and thus advocate morality and religious principles as the essential foundation of human happiness and freedom. To get a copy of the flier for this Constitution Study Lesson go to FILES and click onto CONSTITUTION STUDY LESSONS. For more information call Jim Barr at 412-931-5286

Learn more here:
http://www.meetup.com/ronpaul-97/calendar/9375296/