Voter machines erratically switch selection

[Shlomo]

Voter machine erratically switches selection
Equipment picks Ralph Nader when John McCain is chosen
Posted: October 30, 2008 11:10 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling © 2008 WorldNetDaily
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=79565

A new video showing a W. Va. voting machine erratically switching votes is getting international attention – with nearly 400,000 hits on YouTube.

A Berkeley, Calif., organization, Video The Vote, recently recorded Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright attempting to demonstrate the reliability of voting machines, saying he was unable to reproduce a reported vote-switching problem.

"We are totally transparent around here," he said. "We welcome anyone who would like to see how the machines operate and how the machines function."

Video The Vote was attempting to show Democratic Party votes automatically switch to Republican candidates, but the video showed something unexpected.

Waybright began with an uncalibrated machine to prove his point. When he selected Barack Obama, the machine jumped to Chuck Baldwin. He tried again, and it took him to a screen for voters to write in a candidate. The same selection took him to Chuck Baldwin again.

When he selected a straight Democratic Party ticket, the machine chose John McCain. He selected a straight Republican ticket, and it voted for John McCain.


Such problems were to be expected on uncalibrated equipment.

Satisfied that he had proven his point, Waybright said uncalibrated machines would be taken out of service immediately.

"There's no way you can vote on a machine that's out of calibration," he said.

Then he plugged a device into the equipment and said, "I've recalibrated this machine now. This is the same machine that was jumping all over the place just a few minutes ago. Now it is functioning just as it should function."

He then selected a straight Republican ticket.

However, he received an on-camera surprise when he tested the equipment.

The "calibrated" machine did not prefer McCain, as Video The Vote suggested – rather, it selected Ralph Nader.