A voter experienced a problem while early voting this Tuesday. The voter contacted the AJC, saying it took three tries on a machine before it recorded his choice correctly. He voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at the county's administration complex in Richmond Hill.
The voter said that on his first two tries, he initially selected Clinton but the touchscreen on the machine would then change to show his selection to be Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump - which he canceled before trying again. The voter also said his wife had a similar experience on the same machine.
State officials said that this was an isolated event, however, the Georgia Secretary of State's Office still opened an investigation.
David B. Dove, The office's chief of staff and legal counsel, said that they are confident that machines are not 'flipping' voters. He says that the county did not properly conduct logic and accuracy testing on this particular unit. "That test ensures the geographic areas on the unit's screen corresponds to the underlying ballot format. This testing is required by state law."
As told by Bryan County Election Supervisor Cindy Reynolds, the machine was one of eight in operation for early voting. At least 20 people were able to use the machine prior to the Bryan County voter complains; no one reported any problems to poll workers but they went ahead and took it down just to be sure, Reynolds said.
Since 2002, Georgia has been using "direct-recording electronic' voting machines, or DREs, known by voters for their touch screens. For the machine to be able to accurately collect a voter's intent, the touch screen must be tilted approximately 45-degrees toward the voter. If it is improperly calibrated, it will mark the voter's choice either above or below the intended target area.
However, it seems like the voter did the correct thing by checking the summary screen for correctness before casting the ballot.
Many of more than 27,000 voting machines in Georgia are at least 13 years old. These aging machines are an issue for states across the country. The state regularly tests these machines, and officials assure that the system is ready for the election this year.
Oct. 17 marked the start of early voting in Georgia, and it will run through Nov. 4.
