6 ms·

But what is the other explanation then?

by VMG 14y ago

usaar333 14y ago
touchscreen calibration errors or related software glitches. I've certainly seen my own phone get screwed up enough on occasion that a touch on point x registered at y.
- takeda64 14y ago
  except the guy who recorded it claims that selecting candidate that's below Obama worked correctly.
  - usaar333 14y ago
    From my phone experiences, it isn't always a matter of a touch being shifted up/down by X everyone. Sometimes individual areas are screwed up. (as a simple experiment, I can put some water droplets on my nexus S and things go haywire unpredictably). I'm doubtful this is malicious not so much because I'm some idealist that believes voter fraud doesn't happen, but because of all ways to commit fraud, this is a but ridiculous - it's obvious to everyone the machine is recording wrong and it will be noticed.
m_myers 14y ago
Hanlon's Razor would suggest a bug in the hardware or software as the more likely explanation. Unfortunately, when politics are involved, people default to assuming malice far more than they perhaps should.
- mcantelon 14y ago
  These voting machines flaws were widely reported last election. They always favoured the Republican candidate. Here's court testimony of an developer who was asked to create one of these rigged systems: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVmsaDS_FwY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVmsaDS_FwY
  - briandear 14y ago
    They don't "always" favor the republican. That's just hyperbole. There have been widespread reports of Romney votes being altered -- days ago. I think our biggest problem is voter registration flaws and the lack of being able to identify that the person listed on the form is the actual one voting. We should also be dipping people's thumbs in ink like they do in Africa and Mexico to ensure that people don't vote twice. Voter fraud is far more common than alleged insidious voting machine malfunctions. Those machines are checked by reps of both parties and under heavy, continual scrutiny. Voter rolls, on the other hand, or absentee ballots are rife with fraud. For example, thousands of military members won't get to vote this election because the department of defense failed to mail the ballots on time. In 2010, I lived in China and didn't get my absentee ballot until 1 month after the election, even though I requested it 6 months prior from the US Consulate in Shanghai. I was disenfranchised like millions of other legal voters, both civilian and military. Some people are more concerned about some old minority lady allegedly with the inability to get a free photo id, yet ignore the military and overseas vote. Yet for the old minority lady, she need only go to the local courthouse to get things straightened out, while a solider in Kabul doesn't have that luxury. Another problem is blantant violations of election law by generally Democrat election judges. Examples from today: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/11/06/judge-orders-obama-mural-covered-at-northeast-philadelphia-polling-place/ http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/11/06/judge-orders-oba... http://mrctv.org/blog/obama-poster-hanging-florida-polling-station http://mrctv.org/blog/obama-poster-hanging-florida-polling-s... http://washingtonexaminer.com/philly-gop-poll-inspectors-being-ousted-for-dems/article/2512714#.UJkm9sXA-4d http://washingtonexaminer.com/philly-gop-poll-inspectors-bei... And voter intimidation here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/6/problems-black-panthers-surface-pa-polling-places/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/6/problems-blac... If the KKK were to show up at a Philidelphia polling site, there'd be cries of outrage and National Guard deployments, but since it's the New Black Panthers, it's ignored.
    - mcantelon 14y ago
      >They don't "always" favor the republican. That's just hyperbole. I've yet to see a credible instance of vote machine "malfunction" favoring Democrats covered by a reputable source, but if you have any links I'd be interested as it's certainly possible. >Voter fraud is far more common than alleged insidious voting machine malfunctions. Due to the nature of electric voting without a paper trail, there's no way to make this assertion as contemporary electronic voting can't be audited. >Those machines are checked by reps of both parties and under heavy, continual scrutiny. Not quite. See: http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/06/experimental-software-discreetly-installed-on-ohio-voting-machines/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/06/experimental-software-discr... Electronic voting in its current form is a remarkably bad idea. It invites corruption as a scale that requires much more resources than traditional analog voting fraud.
- pulplobster 14y ago
  Even though a bug is not entirely unlikely, a bug which actively favors one candidate over the other is very unlikely.
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  people default to assuming malice It's simply because of the stakes. The cost of ignoring a positive is much greater than the cost of freaking out over a false positive.
sixothree 14y ago
Maybe too many people voted for Obama causing that part of the screen to fail?
rmc 14y ago
That since Romney and Obama are going to each get lots of votes that the touch screen has been completly worn away and is now not very accurate.
- danielweber 14y ago
  I wonder what happens if you push on the screen over a candidate's name really really really hard for a minute or so. Not hard enough to knock the whole machine over, but way harder than "touch." It doesn't even need to be malicious. Maybe someone really liked Obama.

But what is the other explanation then?

by VMG 14y ago

But what is the other explanation then?

touchscreen calibration errors or related software glitches. I've certainly seen my own phone get screwed up enough on occasion that a touch on point x registered at y.

takeda64 14y ago
except the guy who recorded it claims that selecting candidate that's below Obama worked correctly.
- usaar333 14y ago
  From my phone experiences, it isn't always a matter of a touch being shifted up/down by X everyone. Sometimes individual areas are screwed up. (as a simple experiment, I can put some water droplets on my nexus S and things go haywire unpredictably). I'm doubtful this is malicious not so much because I'm some idealist that believes voter fraud doesn't happen, but because of all ways to commit fraud, this is a but ridiculous - it's obvious to everyone the machine is recording wrong and it will be noticed.

m_myers 14y ago

Hanlon's Razor would suggest a bug in the hardware or software as the more likely explanation. Unfortunately, when politics are involved, people default to assuming malice far more than they perhaps should.

mcantelon 14y ago
These voting machines flaws were widely reported last election. They always favoured the Republican candidate. Here's court testimony of an developer who was asked to create one of these rigged systems: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVmsaDS_FwY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVmsaDS_FwY
- briandear 14y ago
  They don't "always" favor the republican. That's just hyperbole. There have been widespread reports of Romney votes being altered -- days ago. I think our biggest problem is voter registration flaws and the lack of being able to identify that the person listed on the form is the actual one voting. We should also be dipping people's thumbs in ink like they do in Africa and Mexico to ensure that people don't vote twice. Voter fraud is far more common than alleged insidious voting machine malfunctions. Those machines are checked by reps of both parties and under heavy, continual scrutiny. Voter rolls, on the other hand, or absentee ballots are rife with fraud. For example, thousands of military members won't get to vote this election because the department of defense failed to mail the ballots on time. In 2010, I lived in China and didn't get my absentee ballot until 1 month after the election, even though I requested it 6 months prior from the US Consulate in Shanghai. I was disenfranchised like millions of other legal voters, both civilian and military. Some people are more concerned about some old minority lady allegedly with the inability to get a free photo id, yet ignore the military and overseas vote. Yet for the old minority lady, she need only go to the local courthouse to get things straightened out, while a solider in Kabul doesn't have that luxury. Another problem is blantant violations of election law by generally Democrat election judges. Examples from today: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/11/06/judge-orders-obama-mural-covered-at-northeast-philadelphia-polling-place/ http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/11/06/judge-orders-oba... http://mrctv.org/blog/obama-poster-hanging-florida-polling-station http://mrctv.org/blog/obama-poster-hanging-florida-polling-s... http://washingtonexaminer.com/philly-gop-poll-inspectors-being-ousted-for-dems/article/2512714#.UJkm9sXA-4d http://washingtonexaminer.com/philly-gop-poll-inspectors-bei... And voter intimidation here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/6/problems-black-panthers-surface-pa-polling-places/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/6/problems-blac... If the KKK were to show up at a Philidelphia polling site, there'd be cries of outrage and National Guard deployments, but since it's the New Black Panthers, it's ignored.
  - mcantelon 14y ago
    >They don't "always" favor the republican. That's just hyperbole. I've yet to see a credible instance of vote machine "malfunction" favoring Democrats covered by a reputable source, but if you have any links I'd be interested as it's certainly possible. >Voter fraud is far more common than alleged insidious voting machine malfunctions. Due to the nature of electric voting without a paper trail, there's no way to make this assertion as contemporary electronic voting can't be audited. >Those machines are checked by reps of both parties and under heavy, continual scrutiny. Not quite. See: http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/06/experimental-software-discreetly-installed-on-ohio-voting-machines/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/06/experimental-software-discr... Electronic voting in its current form is a remarkably bad idea. It invites corruption as a scale that requires much more resources than traditional analog voting fraud.
pulplobster 14y ago
Even though a bug is not entirely unlikely, a bug which actively favors one candidate over the other is very unlikely.
sliverstorm 14y ago
people default to assuming malice It's simply because of the stakes. The cost of ignoring a positive is much greater than the cost of freaking out over a false positive.

sixothree 14y ago

Maybe too many people voted for Obama causing that part of the screen to fail?

rmc 14y ago

That since Romney and Obama are going to each get lots of votes that the touch screen has been completly worn away and is now not very accurate.

danielweber 14y ago
I wonder what happens if you push on the screen over a candidate's name really really really hard for a minute or so. Not hard enough to knock the whole machine over, but way harder than "touch." It doesn't even need to be malicious. Maybe someone really liked Obama.