

Votes cast yesterday on e-voting machines made by Election Systems & Software went to the wrong candidates, according to officials in Lawrence County, Ohio.

Although a tally printed from the machines at the end of the day and posted on the door of a county precinct got the numbers correct – 374 votes for Bill Robinson in the Hamilton Township trustee position and 170 votes for Allan Blankenship – a tabulation machine at the county's headquarters flipped the numbers and gave 374 to Blankenship and 170 to Robinson. Officials noticed the problem when they compared the two tallies.

Lawrence County Election Director Catherine Overbeck told me that officials have called in technicians from ES&S to investigate the problem. She didn't say how they determined that the report from the voting machines was correct and the one from the tabulation machine incorrect. The votes on the tabulation machine are tallied from memory cartridges retrieved from the voting machines.

Overbeck said this was the only race affected in this way on a ballot that included more than 100 races.

Voting activists say that this is one reason why all voting districts that use electronic voting machines should be required to post a tally from each machine on the door of precincts at the end of the day – so that voters and candidates can independently compare those tallies to the county's final results and catch problems like this.

I'll update if I get more information.

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