Commentary
Election
Day Tabulating Machine Problem
By David Knudsen
Gray--There was a problem with one of the vote tabulating
machines in Gray late on Election Day. It was my fault.
I was tending the two machines and, when voting slowed
down, I would tease a voter who looked unsure of what
to do by saying "You have to make one more decision
now. Which machine do you like ?" 
A voter replied, "Gee, I don't know; tell me
which one to use." So I said "Use this one."
and slapped my hand on the top of the cabinet of the
tabulating machine. I killed the machine and all of
the stored information was lost.
Above, Warden Mitchell Berkowitz
removes ballots from the shorted out machine while
the observers watch. The Monument: Prata photo
As an Electrical Engineer with many years of experience,
I did not expect a tabulating machine to be so sensitive.
These machines have to be transported from place to
place and they are intended to be used by the voting
public. In my opinion, the machines were not properly
designed for their use; the engineering was deficient.
The problem with the machine was a nuisance, but in
the end, all votes were properly counted. Fortunately,
the Town Manager had ordered a spare machine as a
back up. After receiving permission from the Secretary
of State, one machine was taken up on the stage and
cleared of all information to start a fresh count.
Ballot Clerks were collected and the ballots previously
cast were all separated between general and local;
a task that was necessary in any case.
A team of two people began feeding general ballots
through the machine that had been reset. As soon as
the polls were closed, the other good machine was
emptied and cleared so that general ballots could
also be fed through that machine.
The local ballots were separated between Yes and No;
most of those local ballots were hand counted with
some being read by one of the tabulating machines.
All ballots had been counted by about 9:00 pm except
for those with write in votes or other problems.
Some extra work was caused because I broke the machine,
but by the end of the evening, all votes had been
properly counted and recorded.
