Just got back from early voting. King Willie claimed in his press conference that there were problems with the machines, particularly that if you touched the screen near the top line above a candidate’s name, it would register as a vote for the wrong candidate. So I tried several times to do this and see if it would register a vote for the wrong person. In every case the vote was recorded correctly.
In addition, if you see that the machine registered the vote for the wrong candidate, you have the chance to correct it. All you have to do is touch your candidate’s name again, hopefully a little more accurately, and it unchecks the wrong candidate’s box and checks the correct one.
There are large text and high-contrast options available for those with vision problems. There’s a poll worker available for help if you don’t understand how to use the machine.
Plus, at the end of the ballot it summarizes the candidates you voted for. If any of the votes appear incorrect, you have the chance to back up and make corrections before casting your ballot.
My verdict: I don’t see how anyone could possibly mess up voting on those machines, given the multiple chances given to correct errors. I’ll say it again – I’m not surprised at all that the people who are too dumb to use these machines are the same people who support Willie Herenton.