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The scariest thing you'll ever see on a voting machine
Lever Voting Machines (or LVMs), which are still in use only in New York, are about as old as voting technology gets here in the United States. (Learn all about them — and every other voting machine used in the U.S. — with our in-depth map of voting tech.)
Inside every machine, votes are counted mechanically on odometers — just like the ones that count the miles traveled in older vehicles. Before voting begins on Election Day, these odometers are set to 0-0-0. At the end of the day, poll workers check out the counts. The most frightening thing for them to see is a meter that says 0-9-9.
If an odometer reads 0-9-9 (as the image above has been altered to show, for example), it very rarely means that 99 votes were cast for a specific candidate, but that the pins used to advance the reading to 1-0-0 snapped and stopped the count at 99. Since two wheels are being spun to advance the hundredths counter, more force is applied on the aging or plastic pins. It's the most likely failure to occur in LVMs.
Of course, this means any votes over 99 are lost forever. Not cool, democracy.
Via DVICE Guide to Voting Machines
By 9toes at 10:52 AM ON 10/27/08
If it is so well known, there should be a notice on the machine where the voter can see it. Either that, or a poll worker should be assigned to spot check it before the nest voter is allowed to enter the booth. Of course, the simplest answer would be for the state to properly maintain the machines so that there wouldn't be such risk.
By NY Voter at 11:27 AM ON 10/27/08
The lever voting machines used in New York are indeed old. They are also the most reliable voting machines used in the country. They are much easier to use and understand then punch card ballots and less vulnerable to the difficulties that plauge electronic voting machines. Each polling site in New York is monitored a Republican and Democrat poll watcher as well as poll workers paid by the Board of Elections. In addition to the machines, paper ballots are supplied in the event the machine breaks down.
Given that elections are a human system, there will always be a risk of incompetence or outright corruption, but the lever voting machine and the redundancies in place at New York poll sites, reduces these risks greatly.
By rzs at 9:25 AM ON 10/30/08
Oh - and here I thought it was the lever reading "to restrict" as in "restrict the vote". But the 099 thing is worse. I don't think there's any excuse for votes being lost or ignored. We are so good at making technology - fixing or making new voting machines should be a critical American priority.
By kah454 at 9:17 AM ON 10/31/08
Never heard of the 099 issue and I have been doing this for years. I've look inside the machines and there are no plastic parts. They are and remain the most reliable system for voting. The restricted lever is used in primaries so that people will vote only for their parties candidates. In NY you have to be a registered party member to vote in the parties primary. The system in NY is so reliable that other states should look to us as to how registrations are handled as well as affadavit voting and the system for machine breakdowns. The HAVA is a very good thing. But for the expenses of replacing a very good system with few if any errors needs to be investigated. The only people making out on this are the companies selling the new machines which don't get the job done. Florida and Ohio are still having problems with breakdowns and errors and people not being able to vote and they may hold this election in the balance. As we said in the days of Watergate, " Follow the Money".
By cjkosh at 7:08 AM ON 11/03/08
So, make the vulnerable parts out of robust hardened steel - duh. Incorporate an electronic monitoring system to insure that they are reset before the vote, and a printout after. Check the machines before the vote for wear and replace any parts that may not endure the election. I'm guessing you could utilize the original blueprints with add-ons, so no significant cost.
Why is this so hard?
By Amy at 12:17 PM ON 12/08/08
The only reliable method of voting is paper ballots. They can be counted by machines, but spot checks and recounts can be done by people. This is basic voting 101, is the only method acceptable by international voting watch groups. Used in many states already. See the details of the recount going on right now in Minnesota, in public, watched by anyone who wants, and down to the wire. No other system can be worthy of trust, and that's what we are sorely lacking here in the US.
By Obama sucks at 8:35 PM ON 04/03/09
OBAMA is a Shady ass LIAR !!! worst prez in history!
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