Election Day malice, mishaps, and mysteries

As Americans went to vote on Tuesday, reports trickled in of late-opening polling stations, touch-screen voting machine errors, and even outright interference in the election process. Here’s a roundup of problems in several U.S. states.

North Carolina

The Charlotte Observer reports former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon, a convicted felon, cast a ballot Oct. 30, breaking the law. In North Carolina it is illegal for a felon to vote until after serving a sentence. Cannon, a Democrat, pleaded guilty earlier this year to accepting more than $50,000 in bribes, and was sentenced last month to 44 months in prison.

Illinois

In Chicago, several polling places opened their doors up to an hour and a half late after scores of election judges, the paid workers who operate the polls, failed to show up to their jobs. Chicagoans who planned to vote at 6 a.m. before work were in some cases turned away because there was only one election judge at their polling station.

The problem? A mysterious campaign of robocalls to Chicago election judges over the weekend falsely informed the judges they needed to attend an additional training session. Some of the judges also were told they must vote a certain way in order to work. Both claims were false: One election judge who received two automated calls, Danny Bravman, told the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners that when he called back the number a message said the robocalls had come from a marketing firm or political organization: “So it seems rather obvious that someone is impersonating the board of elections.”

Board Chairman Langdon Neal said the robocalls were a deliberate, “malicious” attempt to disrupt the election in Chicago—a tactic he hadn’t seen in his 18 years as chairman. It’s not clear who’s responsible for the robocalls, but they seem to have worked. Although the board sent emails to about 6,000 of Chicago’s 15,000 election judges Sunday explaining the automated calls were fraudulent, many apparently ignored the memo and stayed home Tuesday.

In response to the no-show judges, Chicago election officials enlisted the help of 250 standby election judges, but not before dozens of voters were turned away from understaffed polling places until standby election judges arrived. Precincts that opened behind schedule may stay open later than usual this evening.

Virginia

This morning in Virginia Beach, a video showed a touch-screen voting machine selecting the Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress, Suzanne Patrick, every time a user tried to select the Republican incumbent, Rep. Scott Rigell.

Voters were reporting problems with machine touch screens in multiple precincts in Virginia Beach and three Virginia counties (including Arlington County), according to the Republican Party of Virginia.

“Every error is going against my campaign and in favor of my challenger,”

Rigell said at a news conference, according to 13News Now. It appeared the touch sensors were not properly aligned atop the candidates’ names. Election officials blamed an increase in the screens’ font size for the problem.

Virginia Beach General Registrar Donna Patterson said election officials were taking malfunctioning machines out of service and encouraging voters to double-check their selections before submitting ballots.

Maryland

State election officials took 25 voting machines out of service after they caused problems for voters Tuesday, including vote “flipping.” The Maryland Republican Party said about 50 voters had complained the machines flipped their votes from the Republican to the Democratic candidate.

Watchdog.org warned this morning that Maryland was using machines on Election Day that had proven glitchy during early voting, forcing one Republican to correct her vote four times before the machine got it right.

Officials in Maryland say all voters have been able to correct their selections on the machines before casting their ballots.

Illinois also experienced voting machine “flipping” during early voting. A spokesman for the integrity organization True the Vote told Watchdog.org that glitches are all too common on the kiosks: “Remember, these are machines purchased by cash-strapped government offices from the lowest bidder.”

Connecticut

At least 10 polling stations in Hartford opened late this morning after voter lists arrived behind schedule. Polling places in Connecticut are supposed to open at 6 a.m., but some didn’t admit voters until 7:30 a.m. In some cases, would-be voters got tired of waiting and left for work: In such emergencies, poll workers are supposed to write down voters’ names, addresses, and phone numbers and give them a ballot anyway.

The voters lists are normally distributed by 5 a.m. Tuesday but didn’t arrive until after 6 a.m. today, said a spokesman for Secretary of State Denise Merrill. The mayor of Hartford, Pedro Segarra, said in a statement, “What happened this morning is inexcusable.”

An attorney for Gov. Dannel Malloy—a Democrat facing a strong challenge by Republican candidate Tom Foley—asked a judge to extend the hours of Hartford polls until 9 p.m. tonight. The judge agreed to allow just two polls to stay open a half-hour later than usual, until 8:30 p.m.

Kansas

More voting machine glitches: Election Journal reported that machines at two Overland Park polling stations changed votes from Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts to his Independent challenger, Greg Orman. In at least one of the cases, election officials said they had recalibrated the machine and put it back in service.

Texas

False alarm in Bexar County? A woman says she used a voting machine at First Chinese Baptist Church in San Antonio that omitted the name of Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott, who is running against Wendy Davis. The machine displayed Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s name in place of Abbott’s. (Dewhurst is not running for governor.) The voter posted photos of the machine, which election officials reportedly took out of service to examine, and cast her vote on another kiosk.

“Ballot irregularities omit my name from ballot in Bexar Co. Call Secretary of State if you spot other problems,” tweeted Abbott.

But election officials insisted the pictures were doctored. The voter, posting on Twitter as Jade Stanford, insists they are not. What do you think?