URGENT: TX VOTERS: Straight party/others machines flipping votes in these 8 counties

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TEXAS CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT NEWS!************ ********* ********* *****TCRP Cites Problems with Paperless Voting,Urges Voters not to Vote Straight-Party Ballot,Vows to Continue Legal Fightagainst Paperless VotingThe Texas Civil Rights Project expresses "grave concern"over ballot integrity with the use of paperless votingmachines that have emerged in eight Texas Counties andthroughout the country,TCRP Director Jim Harrington said a number of votersin several Texas counties have been complaining thatvoting machines they used to cast early votes flippedtheir votes from Democratic choices to Republican ones.

 

Complaints so far have come in from at least eight Texascounties -- Collin, Dallas, El Paso, Galveston, Harris,Jefferson, Travis, and Palo Pinto."Voters have reported, for example, that when they triedto vote a straight-party Democratic ticket, the machineflipped their choices to Republican candidates instead.In some cases, voters reported a problem only with thepresidential race," said Harrington. "In other cases,voters reported the entire ballot being markedRepublican by the machine."The counties use different kinds of voting machines fromthree of the top voting machine companies -- ElectionSystems & Software, Diebold Election Systems (now PremierElection Solutions) and Hart InterCivic. "This shows thepervasiveness of the problem," said Harrington. "Whetherthis happens through electronic error, machineprogramming, or fraud, the result is

the same -- votersare unable to cast their votes for their preferredcandidate. This is exactly why 31 states in the nationnow require some kind of paper trail. But not Texas."TCRP currently has litigation pending that seeks torequire that Texas only use voting machines with somekind of paper authentication -- such as optical scans,now favored in many jurisdictions.Collin County uses Diebold paperless Accu-Votetouch-screen machines; Dallas uses ES & S paperlessiVotronic machines; El Paso uses Diebold paperlessAccu-Vote touch-screen machines; Galveston and Travisuse Hart InterCivic paperless eSlate machines, whichuse a dial-and-click system that doesn't requirevoters to touch the screen; Harris uses HartInterCivic paperless eSlate machines; Jefferson andPalo Pinto Counties use ES & S paperless iVotronictouch-screen machines.ES & S machines also are at the center of

storiesin West Virginia and Tennessee where voters alsoreported the machines flipping their votes, thoughthe scenario in those states was slightly differentsince voters there weren't trying to vote astraight-party ticket when the problem occurred.Voting a straight-party ballot or ticket is an optionoffered in 15 states whereby a voter can choose to votestraight-party Democrat or Republican and the ballotwill automatically mark votes for candidates from thatparty on the ballot.Because of the reports of problems, TCRP is urgingvoters to forego the option for this election.Harrington said TCRP would bring these issues beforehe judge in the litigation in which TCRP representsthe NAACP of Austin, Sonia Santana, and David VanOs(former candidate for Texas Attorney General. "Wehope that, by the next election, the state will berid of these voting machines, and people can

beconfident in the integrity of their ballots."************To support the excellent work ofthe Texas Civil Rights ProjectFighting for Reliable Vote Counting in Texas:http://www.texasciv ilrightsproject. org/Your Tax-Deductible Gift Will Help KeepTCRP Active in the Most Needed Places************____________ _________ _________ _________ ________TCRP mailing listhttp://tcrpmail. org/mailman/ listinfo/ tcrp_tcrpmail. orgTCRP-owner@tcrpmail

..org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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