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Video shows voting machine altering votes [Viral Video]

Posted at 2:57 PM, Nov 06, 2012
and last updated 2012-11-06 14:57:42-05

by Scott Gustin

Video of a voting machine altering votes in Pennsylvania has surfaced online.

According to the video’s description, the man and his wife went to a voting booth on Tuesday before work.

“There were 4 older ladies running the show and 3 voting booths that are similar to a science fair project in how they fold up. They had an oval VOTE logo on top center and a cartridge slot on the left that the volunteers used to start your ballot.”

“I initially selected Obama but Romney was highlighted. I assumed it was being picky so I deselected Romney and tried Obama again, this time more carefully, and still got Romney. Being a software developer, I immediately went into troubleshoot mode.

The person that posted the video says the “calibration” argument was not valid because he was not able to duplicate this issue when trying to vote for another race.

Voting officials said this is an example of a voting machine “not being calibrated.” Voters that see this issue are urged to notify an polling place worker so the machine can be fixed.

All voters are also urged to review their selections before casting their ballot.

Read the full video description on YouTube.

Last month, voters reported similar issues at early voting locations in North Carolina.

Several voters told FOX8 their electronic ballot machine cast the wrong vote.  All the complaints were made by people who voted at the Bur-Mil Park polling location.

Similar problems were also reported in Jamestown and Pleasant Garden.

One of the voters, Sher Coromalis, says she cast her ballot for Governor Mitt Romney, but every time she entered her vote the machine defaulted to President Obama.

“I was so upset that this could happen,” said Coromalis.

Guilford County Board of Elections Director George Gilbert says the problem arises every election. It can be resolved after the machine is re-calibrated by poll workers.

“It’s not a conspiracy it’s just a machine that needs to be corrected,” Gilbert said.

After the third try, Coromalis says she was able to get her vote counted for Gov. Romney but was still annoyed.

“I should have just mailed it in,” Coromalis said.