Madison Polling Place Machine Was Changing Voter's Choices
Bill Lueders Isthmus The Daily Page Apr 16 2009Ted Shultz of Madison was just checking. Though he's not himself visually impaired, he always uses the machine provided for those who are to make sure it's working properly.
"I want everyone's vote to count," says Shultz, a grad student in mechanical engineering at the UW-Madison.
Since 2006, federal law has required that every polling place have voting equipment accessible to people with disabilities. Madison and other local governments use the ES&S AutoMARK. It's equipped with headphones so voters can hear the choices, and it lets those with limited vision view a magnified ballot, which it then marks. The ballot is printed out and can be reviewed, like any other, before it's turned in.
Using the ES&S AutoMARK last week at his polling place at Spring Harbor Elementary on Madison's west side, Shultz noticed the alignment was off. So when he tried to make a given choice, the machine would register a vote for the opposing candidate.
