>From: TCDP Info <info@traviscountydemocrats.org>
>Subject: Re: Read this carefully and circulate widely!
>Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 16:54:02 -0500
>To: "Annette L. Demers" <ademers@law.harvard.edu>
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>It has come to the attention of the Travis County Democratic Party and to
>the attention of Dana DeBeauvoir, our Travis County Clerk, that an e-mail
>is circulating stating that a Travis County voter cast a straight
>Democratic ballot and when proofing their ballot, saw a vote marked for Bush.
>
>To dispel the rumor: This appeared to have happened and was corrected
>before the ballot was cast. This was not a machine malfunction. However,
>user-error can cause ballot casting errors.
>
>The TCDP has been working closely with Travis County Elections Division
>and here are some facts:
>
>-- As of Thursday evening, over 63,000 had placed their vote in Travis County
>-- This total will more than likely exceed 75,000 by Friday night
>-- Travis County Elections Division has received only a handful of
>problems/complaints and after thoroughly checking into each one, have
>determined that these resulted from user-error and were not machine problems.
>
>The County held a voting machine demonstration with the press earlier
>today. We have complete faith in their system in that this has been an
>isolated case or two and is not some sort of conspiracy as is being
>indicated by the e-mail.
>
>As conscientious voters, I am sure you did or will thoroughly review your
>ballot before hitting the 'cast' button. If you have any questions while
>placing your vote, please do not hesitate to let the Election Judge on
>duty know BEFORE hitting the send button.
>
>*** What happened in the case stated in the e-mail was voter error and not
>a machine malfunction. ***
>
>When pressing ENTER after marking Straight Democrat, some voters
>inadvertently turned the SELECT wheel one click through the ballot while
>meaning to go to the final "PROOF" page. If you hit ENTER at that point,
>your cursor is over the first candidate on the ballot: Bush/Cheney.
>
>So, the answer to this problem is this:
>TELL EVERYONE TO PROOF THEIR BALLOT. If there is an error, page back and
>fix it and/or ask for assistance in doing so. You must fix these things
>BEFORE you hit CAST BALLOT.
>
>We thank everyone who has written or called in with their concerns. We
>understand these concerns considering what happened in Florida in
>2000. But here in Travis County, Texas in 2004 there is nothing to worry
>about.
>Elizabeth Yevich
>Executive Director
>Travis County Democratic Party
>706 West MLK Blvd, Suite 8
>Ph: (512) 477-7500, Fax: (512) 477-7769
>E-mail: elizabeth@traviscountydemocrats.org
>Web: www.traviscountydemocrats.org
>Mailing Address
>P.O. Box 684263
>Austin, TX 78768
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