Local Officials Blow Smoke At Undervote Study
Two local election officials quoted in the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald have tried to discount the striking undervote study released last week by Iowans for Voting Integrity. Both made comments that suggest they have not read the study.
Delaware County Auditor Carla Becker said “I don’t think they are allowing for voter discretion or apathy when it comes to some races. . .Judges’ elections are always the worst.”
Maybe so, but the study did not cover judges races. It covered only the race for Governor. It’s not likely that voters in touchscreen counties were so apathetic that they skipped the top race at twice the rate of neighboring counties where no touchscreens were used.
Tom O’Neill, Dubuque County deputy commissioner of elections, was quoted as saying “Iowans for Voting Integrity are concerned about undervotes, saying the touch screens are dropping votes, but they have nothing to back that up.”
Yes, they do. They have the study. It’s short. Read it here.
O’Neill went on to add, “I’m not convinced that the machines are doing it. It could be voter mistake.”
Yes, it could be. Does O’Neill approve of equipment that appears to cause so many mistakes? Why should his Dubuque county results show an undervote rate of less than one percent while neighboring Jackson county’s undervote rate is four times as high at 3.1 percent? Is it because Jackson county’s befuddled voters make more mistakes–or because Jackson county uses only touchscreens?
There’s also real news in the Telegraph-Herald story. Reporter Mary Rae Bragg reveals that counties cannot buy paper trail printers for touchscreens because the voting machine companies have stopped selling them! The vendors blame the uncertainty of pending federal legislation.
That’s just as well. Paper trail printers for touchscreens are a poor substitute for the real thing–paper ballots marked by voters. All counties should switch to that.