ELECTION NOTEBOOK || Praising Trumbull’s voting machines

NOTEBOOK

Praising Trumbull’s voting machines

WARREN

This is the seventh general election in which the Trumbull County Board of Election has used its Diebold electronic, touch-screen voting machines, and one official says the machines appear to have many years left before they will need to be replaced.

“They told us [they would last] 20 years when we got them. At the rate they’re breaking down I’d say that’s true or longer,” said Allan Banner, head of the voting machine department at the Trumbull elections board.

Workers encounter hot night at Oakhill

youngstown

Workers and observers at the Mahoning County Board of Elections had to grapple with excessive heat during the first election in their new quarters at Oakhill Renaissance Place. The temperature inside of the building, which has a steam-heat system, topped 90 degrees, according to some workers.

Machine problems

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About 20 voting machines in Mahoning County had problems that caused a delay in counting votes. Each machine is supposed to print three ballot results with one posted at the polling location and the other two coming to the board office at Oakhill Renaissance Place. The problem with those machines is only one list was printed when poll workers closed the machines.

Directions from board employees corrected the problems and the poll workers were told to push the button two more times to get the two additional ballots.

Candidate escorted out

youngstown

Adrian McDowell, who lost the Youngstown council 1st Ward race to incumbent Annie Gillam, refused to leave the Mahoning County Board of Elections office, claiming his opponent’s name was also on the 3rd Ward ballot.

Election officials insisted that wasn’t the case, and it wasn’t until talk of sheriff’s deputies escorting McDowell out of the office that he opted to leave.

— Vindicator staff