http://www.sanangelostandardtimes.com/sast/news_local/article/0,1897,SAST_4956_4559073,00.html
San Angelo Standard-Times
Electronic machines not providing all info
By Paul A. Anrthony
March 21, 2006
On orders from the Texas Secretary of State’s office, the
recount for the Tom Green County Court-at-Law No. 2 race has been suspended
midway through its second day.
About 1:30 p.m. today, county Republican Chairman Dennis
McKerley stopped the recount after workers found discrepancies of as much as 20
percent between what was counted Monday and what was reported Election Night.
"We’re having some trouble with the electronic
equipment," McKerley said.
Apparently, McKerley said, new electronic voting machines
provided by vendor Hart InterCivic are not printing ballots for every vote cast
on the machines. During recounts, which must be done by hand, the machines are
designed to print out separate ballots for every vote.
A Hart InterCivic representative is expected to arrive
Wednesday morning, McKerley said, to determine whether or how to retrieve the
remaining printouts.
The problem affects early votes cast in what appears to be
every precinct, McKerley said. All of commissioner’s Precinct 1 was affected,
he said, as were all the randomly selected voting precincts in other parts of
the county.
Although sign-in sheets match the counts provided by the
machines on Election Night, he said, the number of printouts does not match the
sign-in sheets.
More than 3,000 early votes were cast in the race between
Assistant County Attorney Julie Hughes, incumbent Judge Penny Roberts and
former prosecutor Dan Edwards, meaning the problem likely affects more than 600
votes of the 9,500 cast early and on Election Day.
Just 12 votes separate third-place finisher Edwards from
second-place finisher Roberts to see who will face Hughes in the April runoff
election. Edwards requested and paid for the recount.
Copyright 2006, San Angelo Standard-Times, an E.W. Scripps
newspaper. All Rights Reserved.
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