Too many Dem votes that way?
http://www.cleveland.com/newslogs/plaindealer/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_plaindealer/archives/2006_05.html12:06 p.m.
The Cuyahoga County Board of Election is expected to hand count absentee ballots today because of inconsistencies in trial runs. Director Michael Vu plans to recommend a complete manual count. The board has gotten about 16,000 absentee ballots so far.
"We want these ballots to be counted accurately above all else. At this point, that means conducting a hand count," Vu said. It was unclear whether to blame the ballots or the counting devices. Vu hoped to run tests after the election to pin down the problem.
Meanwile, midway through Primary Day, voter turnout is light. Local voters said the machines were much easier to use than the old punch cards. The trouble was, many of the machines were out of order for hours at least, and several locations had to turn away voters for a while. Voters said they encountered other snags, too. In Shaker Heights, one woman said she noticed that her ballot didn't show the school tax measure. Poll workers had to start her over again with a new one.
(-The Plain Dealer seems to be trying to give the rosiest picture.Don't even mention Machine-Mashing Man.)
First election with new machines for half of state
5/2/2006, 12:06 p.m. ET
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/114657415494860.xml&storylist=clevelandBy CONNIE MABIN
The Associated Press
CLEVELAND (AP) — A small number of people left a few Cleveland polling sites Tuesday without voting when tardy poll workers did not get new electronic voting machines set up for up to two hours. Minor problems adjusting to new machines were reported in other parts of the state.
Other voters who showed up when the touch-screen machines weren't ready in Cuyahoga County were eventually given ballots to fill out by hand, elections chief Michael Vu said.
Polling sites in all 88 Ohio counties were using either touch-screen electronic machines or ones that electronically scan ballots that voters have marked, eliminating punch-card ballots. Half the counties had their first election with the new machines in November. The rest got up and running in Tuesday's primary election.
Elsewhere in Ohio, election officials and voters reported what was expected: mostly minor problems with workers finding their way with the newer machines, or no problems at all...
New Diebold CEO to make up to $1.7 million
5/1/2006, 10:03 p.m. ET
The Associated Press
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/business-6/114653575430740.xml&storylist=clevelandNORTH CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Voting-machine maker Diebold Inc. will pay its new chief executive up to $1.7 million annually,depending on how successfully their vote-stealing operation performs,the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.
Thomas Swidarski will make a base salary of $550,000 with bonuses of up to 200 percent, according to the contract he reached with the company last week.
Swidarski is nearly five months into leading the company after serving as president and chief operating officer. He took over Dec. 12 for Walden W. O'Dell, Diebold's former chairman and CEO, who resigned suddenly from both posts.
One of Swidarski's early actions was to announce in January a plan to cut about $100 million in costs over three years and improve pricing. The savings would come through streamlining processes, improving the supply chain and adjusting manufacturing operations...
Extraordinary primary season finally reaches voters
5/2/2006, 12:12 p.m. ET
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/114657296140490.xml&storylist=clevelandBy JULIE CARR SMYTH
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A bitter fight by Republican candidates seeking the scandal-embroiled party's nomination for governor dominated a state primary election season that culminated Tuesday, when voters also were picking nominees for other statewide offices, Congress and Legislature.
North Carolina and Indiana also were holding primaries Tuesday, but Ohio's role as the deciding state in the last presidential election makes it a closely watched barometer of voter sentiment.
It was the first major election since the state government-controlling Republican party has been beset by scandal. Politicians were watching for signs Tuesday of voter dissatisfaction that could signal shift in power is possible in the November election.
The day's drama was heightened by the fact that new voting machines, some of which have had problems during testing, were operating around the state. There was scattered trouble adjusting to the machines in the morning, including in the Cleveland area where a small number of people left without voting when a few polling places opened late because workers had trouble setting up touch-screen machines...