Problems with electronic machines cause several glitches and delays

Poll workers failed to close voting machines correctly, delaying results for hours.
Changes in election machines in Mahoning and Columbiana counties caused some voting glitches and a huge delay in results from Mahoning.
Several poll workers in Mahoning failed to properly collect voting data from the county's touch-screen electronic voting machines. Having to redo the count caused extensive delays in obtaining vote totals, said Mark Munroe, Mahoning elections board vice chairman.
Adding a paper audit trail to touch-screen voting machines in Mahoning County made voting slightly more time-consuming, and caused problems for poll workers.
Some poll workers failed to properly connect printers after voting booths closed, causing problems with the machines, Munroe said.
"It's frustrating," Munroe said. "We provided training for our poll workers. Some may have been in a hurry to leave."
Results weren't available from Mahoning County as of midnight.
Slow process
Also, it took a while in Mahoning for computers to advance from one candidate or issue to the next after voters made their selections. The reason was "the paper trail slows it down," said Joyce Kale-Pesta, deputy director of the county's board of elections.
Rolls of paper are mounted in voting machines to the left of computer displays. Voters had to wait for the paper to advance before they could continue, which probably annoyed computer-literate citizens who expect fast results, Kale-Pesta said.
Because of the paper trail add-on, the voting machine size changed, Munroe said. That meant the elimination of tops for the machines, and wider sides.
"One common concern is privacy," Munroe said.
There were only a few minor problems, primarily paper jams, with the machines. One machine needed to be repaired because the paper wasn't registering the votes, Munroe said.
The state Legislature passed a law requiring all voting machines in Ohio to have paper audit trails effective with this election. Legislators said it would enable voters to have a second way to see how they voted.
"From what people are telling me, voters aren't paying attention to the paper trail," Munroe said.
Write-in candidate
Another concern for elections board workers Tuesday was the issue of state Sen. Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, a Democratic write-in candidate for the 6th Congressional District. Wilson ran as a write-in after failing to get 50 valid signatures to get his name on the ballot.
The Mahoning elections board office received at least 10 calls in the first few hours of voting about how the write-in process works, Kale-Pesta said.
Some poll workers were confused as to how much they could help voters, Kale-Pesta said. By law, poll workers can't volunteer the names of write-in candidates, she said. But poll workers can give voters a list of write-in candidates and help them gain access to the write-in screens, Munroe said.
Despite training, one poll worker in Boardman, Munroe said, had the mistaken impression that poll workers couldn't provide any information on write-in candidates even if asked by a voter. When that was brought to the board's attention, the poll worker was told the correct information, he said.
Chris Redfern, Ohio Democratic Party chairman, said he received reports about problems with Mahoning's election machines regarding Wilson's write-in campaign.
"Machines are not recording votes for Charlie because voters are not holding down the submit button long enough," he said.
Munroe said he hadn't heard that complaint.
Officials with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Columbus election law attorney Donald McTigue, representing the Ohio Democratic Party, were seeking affidavits from voters who say they were unsuccessful in voting for Wilson, Redfern said.
Improvement
In Trumbull County, elections workers were elated with the improvement in the operation of the voting machines over the November election.
In November, when Trumbull voters and poll workers used the Diebold AccuVote touch-screen voting machines for the first time, problems cropped up, despite the fact that most voters enjoyed using the new technology.
Election workers raced around the county helping poll workers turn the machines on in the morning and dealt with problems getting them turned off properly that night.
The problems caused some voters to be turned away in the morning, and it delayed vote results on election night by about an hour, officials said.
This time, all polling locations opened on time and only one machine had to be brought back to the elections board to shut it down properly, said Rokey Suleman, deputy elections director.
"The poll workers adjusted pretty well, considering we had a lot of poll workers working for their first time," he said.
The elections board gave poll workers illustrated cards to use this year that gave them easy-to-use instructions. Poll workers also received additional training before the election.
Optical scanning
Columbiana County's first election with its new optical scanning process started with only a few minor problems, said Lois Gall, elections director.
About 10 to 15 of the county's 85 polling places had problems setting up the scanners to work properly. People may still vote if the scanner doesn't work at all.
The biggest problem was that a flap on the metal ballot bin must be raised so scanned paper ballots go into the bin. If the flap isn't raised, the ballot is counted but it shoots onto the floor.
Poll workers at about 10 precincts reported concerns that Wilson's supporters were coming too close to the polling locations, Gall said.
Supporters must stay 100 feet away from a poll. In reality, it may be difficult for poll workers to mark the boundaries, Gall said. Poll workers were told to use their best judgment to give voters clear access, she said.
A Wilson sign was put in the curb lawn of a church being used as a polling place. Gall said she told the church secretary to remove it.