Pay Attention When You Vote

[u/sarcasticbaldguy]

To be clear right at the beginning, I'm not suggesting anything is rigged or unfair.

I voted today and the poll worker gave clear instructions to make sure my chosen candidate changes color to confirm the selection, and to verify my printed ballot before inserting it into the tabulator.

I tapped Harris and Trump lit up. I tapped Harris again and the selection was recognized.

I tapped Johnson and Blackburn lit up. I tapped Johnson again and it was recognized.

The third section acted as I would expect, but it was multiple choice and programmed to behave differently.

There could be a variety of issues that caused this. Double check your selections before you finalize your vote.

Also, go vote!

[u/thinkingahead]

This is being pretty widely reported. They want you to use the coffee stirrers to interface with the touch screen in an attempt to avoid this. It’s an odd issue in my mind. It should be grounds for having the machines removed from service and replaced immediately

[u/symphwind → u/thinkingahead]

I have always been given the coffee stirrer and told to only use that to make selections, and have never had accuracy issues. Are some sites not handing out the stirrers to every person?

[u/AppalachianRomanov → u/symphwind]

I've never seen this, having lived and voted in....three or four different counties?

[u/symphwind → u/AppalachianRomanov]

Interesting, are the same machines used everywhere in the state? I have voted at various early voting locations in Davidson County. Since covid times, they have been handing me the red coffee stirrers regardless of where I go. At first I thought it was to avoid having to directly touch the screen, but recently it seemed to be more for accuracy.

[u/joshbadams → u/symphwind]

I’m in wake county and we vote with a pen to fill in circles. It is so much simpler! Fill in bubble, move on. No bad touch screens, no hanging chads, nothing. No need for weird coffee stirrer hacks!

I guess the only issue is if you fill in multiple circles (you can request a new ballot) or only fill it in a little bit, but I’ve not heard any concerns about it.

[u/[deleted] → u/joshbadams]

Where is Wake County?

[u/joshbadams → u/[deleted]]

Oh this post was suggested to me on Reddit and I thought it was r/asheville (NC). No idea why Reddit suggested a post for a city in a different state!

I feel dumb lol.

[u/Decades05 → u/symphwind]

Each county chooses their voting system. I believe the Secretary of State must approve the choice.

[u/symphwind → u/Decades05]

Thanks! That's helpful to know and what I figured. I assume OP is describing the Davidson County/Nashville machines, then, which I guess do benefit from a more precise stylus. I have always had to push really hard on the screen to make any kind of selection on it.

[u/Decades05 → u/symphwind]

Here is a list of each county and their voting machines. For anyone interested.
https://sos-prod.tnsosgovfiles.com/s3fs-public/document/2024VotingSystemsbyCounty.pdf

[u/[deleted] → u/Decades05]

The Microvote machines work very well. I work the polls and we never have problems with them.

[u/thefranchise31 → u/symphwind]

We don't use touchscreens in our county. There are physical buttons to push that correspond to the candidate's name on the digital screen.

[u/Choice_Individual_24 → u/symphwind]

I'm in Knox County now and we use paper ballots. Tennessee is all over the place.

[u/AppalachianRomanov → u/symphwind]

Well, there was a lot of time before covid. I didn't realize you were only referring to 2020 or later.

Regardless, the more podunk county I vote in now didn't believe in Covid and were certainly were not handing out coffee stirrers at that time.

[u/symphwind → u/AppalachianRomanov]

Yeah, I’ve been voting here since before covid, writing that comment reminded me that I didn’t encounter any coffee stirrers before that point. I feel like we have 3-4 elections every year in Davidson County because of all the primaries and local runoffs, so it was hard to remember that far back. I guess if the coffee stirrer thing started for covid reasons and not for accuracy, I can certainly see locations not wanting to continue that investment now. Guess I’ll see what I encounter when I go to vote in this election.

[u/AppalachianRomanov → u/symphwind]

I love the idea honestly. I usually sanitize after leaving my polling place anyway.