CEIMN in the News | CEIMN: Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota

Voting Woes

December 4, 2006

Letter to the Editor, Mark Halvorson, Director, Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and the Star Tribune's Nov. 26 editorial both weighed in on critical issues posed by paperless electronic voting machines.

Krugman focused on Sarasota County, Florida, where 18,000 votes went unrecorded in the 13th Congressional District race.

In 2004, complaints about voting machines changing or losing votes were reported by voters across the country.

Your vote likely was counted

November 18, 2006

Another View, Bill McGrath, Northfield News

If you voted recently in Rice County, and are wondering whether the ballot you cast actually got counted, the answer is "Yes, it almost certainly did."

However, in some other states there is no way of knowing what happened to your vote. That's because in those states, touch-screen voting machines were used. Many of those machines have no "paper trail." There is no way to do a recount.

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Post-election review checks accuracy of voting machines

November 17, 2006

Brad Swenson Bemidji Pioneer

A test of Beltrami Countys voting integrity on Thursday found a single glitch, one easily explained and which raised no red flags.

Not only am I happy with the outcome, but this was also an opportunity to test the system and build public trust, Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer Kay Mack said after the nearly two-hour post-election review.

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Election officials count ballots the old-fashioned way

November 14, 2006

By Natalie J. Ostgaard, City Editor, Crookston Daily Times

A handful of Polk County election officials got a taste of how ballot counting was done in the old days - more than two decades ago - when they conducted the newly mandated Post Election Equipment Review (PEER) Monday afternoon. The group spent 2 1/2 hours hand counting 476 ballots, but only for the offices of governor, U. S. senator and U. S. representative.

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A New Breed of Watchdog For Election Day

November 6, 2006

By JUNE KRONHOLZ, The Wall Street Journal, Page B1

When Americans go to vote tomorrow, a new breed of activist will be on guard, monitoring polling stations for everything from voting-machine glitches to long lines to registration snafus.

Energized by disputed results in 2000 and 2004, they have left jobs as music conductors, real-estate agents and software engineers to form groups that expect to turn out thousands of volunteers who don't trust the country's ability to count its votes and have decided to do something about it.

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Minnesota officials aren't fretting about new voting technology

October 31, 2006

The state's system has safeguards, lacking in other states, to allay worries of fraud and malfunction.

John Reinan, Star Tribune

Minnesota officials aren't fretting about new voting technology

Linda Mickelson hopes to go home early on election night -- say, around midnight.

That's a better deal than it sounds. Mickelson, deputy auditor in Grant County, usually gets to bed about 4 a.m. on Election Night after counting more than 3,000 votes by hand.

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Keeping an eye on the machines that count Minnesotan's votes

October 24, 2006

By Helen Palmer and Mark Halvorson, St. Paul Pioneer Press

When Minnesotans are asked to raise their hands if they think our electronic voting machines accurately count their votes, almost all hands go up. However, when asked if they think votes in other states are counted accurately, only a few hands go up. Voters in our state have confidence in our voting machines.

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Election integrity not always upheld

September 27, 2006

Austin Daily Herald
Columnists: Sheila Donnelly

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Ohio Recount Op Ed

December 29, 2004

Published on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 by the Star Tribune / Minneapolis

We May Never Know What Happened in the Ohio Vote

by Mark Halvorson and Kirk Lund

The right to vote and to have each vote count is the cornerstone of democracy, but deep cracks are showing in this cornerstone.

Disturbing reports of voting irregularities in Ohio recently led nine of us from Minnesota to monitor the recount of its presidential election. The recount was not only to verify the outcome of the Ohio vote but also to ensure accountability in a flawed system.

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