Voter Finds Vote Switched from Democrat to Republican
Summary: Forwarded email flier reports the experience of an Austin, Texas woman who did a final check of her ballot after voting a straight Democratic ticket and found her choice for president changed from Kerry to Bush
Description: Email flier
Circulating since: Oct. 2004
Status: Misleading
Email example contributed by T. Green, Oct. 24, 2004:
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Subject: check your ballot This came from an acquaintance: Yesterday a friend voted early at a polling location in Austin. She voted straight Democratic. When she did the final check, lo and behold every vote was for the Democratic candidates except that it showed that she had voted for Bush/Cheney for president/vice pres. She immediately got a poll official. On her vote, it was corrected. She called the Travis County Democratic headquarters. They took all her information. They told her that she wasn't the first to report a similar incident and that they are looking into it. So, check before you leave the polling booth, and if anything is wrong, get it corrected immediately. Report any irregularities to your local Democratic headquarters. |
Comments: It's true that some early voters in Travis County, Texas have reported finding their Democratic votes inexplicably changed to Republican upon double-checking their completed electronic ballots, but the implication that this is the result of partisan chicanery is false and misleading.
According to the Travis County Clerk's office, the glitch was the result of voters failing to scroll down to catch the final referendum at the bottom of the ballot before pressing "Enter," which caused a switch - a "flip-flop," if you will - from their original presidential selection to its opposite. The error is easy to correct so long as voters make sure to carefully examine the ballot summary page before submitting their vote.
Sources and further reading:
States Report Early E-Voting Glitches
Computerworld, 27 October 2004Travis County Assures Voters Machines Work
KXAN-TV News, 22 October 2004County Responds to Voting Machine Problems
Austin Chronicle, 22 October 2004Voter Oversight Causing Problems in Travis County
Associated Press, 22 October 2004ALERT: Explanation of Straight Demo Voting in Travis County
Travis County Democratic Party
Last updated: 11/01/04
