Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Election Day began with technical glitches reported around the county early Tuesday, with frustrated voters unable to use computerized voting machines and forced to use paper ballots instead.

But a county spokesman said there have been no reports of widespread problems with the computerized voting machines.

Among those reporting problems shortly after polls opened were voters in Birdland, City Heights, South Park, Del Cerro, La Mesa, El Cajon, Crest, Vista and National City.

James Secrest said he almost gave up and went home Tuesday because the machines at Palmer Way Elementary School in National City were not working when he went to vote around 8 a.m.

Secrest, 70, said the workers at the poll didn't know how to work the machines.

“They gave us a pencil and paper,” he said. “It was very unorganized. I've been going there for 30 years and this is the worst I've seen it.”

[...]

Voting machines also weren't working when Jim Gogek went to vote at the Little Flower Haven convent on La Mesa Boulevard around 7:30 a.m.

He said voters were given absentee ballots and people sat on the floor filling them out, though there weren't enough pens for the voters who were waiting.

“I don't have much faith in these people's computer literacy skills. A lot of people who were voting were pretty disgusted,” Gogek said.

The county is using 10,200 Diebold touch-screen machines in 1,650 precincts. Officials have called the machines user-friendly and said they expected them to make voting less confusing. The machines, first used in March 2004, have been retrofitted to include paper records of ballots cast.