E-Voting Put to the Ultimate Test

Chances are you're not reading this, because you're standing in some epic line at a polling place. Or maybe you've brought your iPhone, and you're surfing the Web to pass the timed. Either way, the polls are jammed, lines are interminable across the country, and election officials, politicos, pundits, and just about everyone else are bracing themselves for the technological messes that are sure to ensue. The good news, according to a recent report from Election Data Services, is that the number of ballots cast on electronic voting machines will drop today for the first time since DREs wormed their way into our lives. In the 2008 election, 32.6 percent of all ballots will be recorded on an electronic voting machine, compared to 37.6 percent in 2006. Of course, 2006 wasn't a presidential election year, particularly one with expected "record-shattering" turnouts. By comparison, 22 percent and 29.2 percent of votes were cast electronically in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Then there's the little matter of key swing states, including Ohio, Indiana, and Nevada—all of which are relying heavily on electronic voting machines. The good news is that touchscreen mistakes and other electronic errors aren't being swept under the rug—just the opposite, in fact. As we noted yesterday, grassroots organizations like Black Box Voting and Video the Vote, as well as larger groups like PBS, are providing voters with a means of insta-monitoring and publicly reporting voting machine errors. And some of them, according to ABC News, "have already publicized problems with some voting machines, including touch-screen vote flipping." In addition, big Web sites like the Huffington Post are asking voters who experience tech problems to write in, and mainstream media outlets like CNN are offering voter hotlines to collect reports of voting irregularities. So if, after making it through the eight-hour line, you press your touchscreen only to find a check mark pop up under the name of another candidate, do not go gently into the disenfranchised night. Instead, do your civic duty, and post what happened all over the Internet. Related: RB: Election 2008: Everything You Need to Know to Avoid Being Disenfranchised RB: Voting in America: Let the Pre-Game Mess Begin! RB: Voting in America, Redux: You Can’t Vote Here, But You Can Vote in Space