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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2002)
10 Wednesday, November 6, 2002 NEW TH E BATTAliJ Got chacosi? New voting machines great, voters sa ...We Do V (The “Ultimate” for ” # hiking on campus!) ^ AN UNPLANNED PREGNANCY IS A HARD THING TO FACE Pregnancy Peer Counseling Service Complete Confidentiality Pre and Post Abortion Peer Counseling Free Pregnancy Test Open Mon-Fri 9-5 and some evenings & Saturdays n O'! Q*I> 205 Brentwood • College Station 0-73—27 I www.hopepregnancy.org Although some devices crashed or need to be repro grammed, touchscreen and other high-tech voting machines experienced few problems Tuesday as they made their full- scale debut in more than 200 counties nationwide. Anxious to avoid the kind of snags that created Florida’s pri mary mess and lesser troubles in Maryland in September, elec tion officials had spent count less hours training poll workers and educating voters on how the new digital tallying machines work. The biggest general election debut for touchscreen machines was in Georgia, where some 19,000 were deployed across the state and voters offered good reviews. One voter, Tracy Yandle of Atlanta, said it was “as easy as using an ATM.” “It’s great. I’ve been voting for a lot more years than I care to say,’’ Joe Penley of Barnesville raved. “It’s almost too simple. My 4-year-old granddaughter could do it. It’s hard to make errors if you just follow instructions.’’ Technical problems charac terized as minor were reported in three of Georgia’s 159 coun ties, with two machines failing in one. One touchscreen machine locked up and crashed as Mary Perdue, the wife of Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial can didate Sonny Perdue, was cast ing her ballot. Officials reboot ed the computer, and she con tinued with ease. Only a few problems, mean while, were reported in the Florida counties of Miami- Dade and Broward where diffi culties with high-tech machines had thrown the Sept. 10 primary into confusion. Former Attorney General Janet Reno not only lost the Democratic primary for governor on that day. She was also turned away from her suburban Miami polling station when machines weren’t ready. This time was different. “It was smooth,” said Reno. “They were prepared for me this time.” Miami-Dade and Broward election officials had stepped up poll worker training and added hundreds of workers to trou bleshoot the machines. “You’re never going to have a flawless opening,” he said. when you can gear up for signing up, that’s mLife. 9i Buy a phone and a qualified AT&T Wireless Calling Plan for $39.99/month or more and get 1000 Anytime Minutes* for up to two years and your choice of free gear. 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Electronics play bigger role in 02 electd More voters will be using touch-screen and other electronic votiim machines in this year's elections. ™ Voting equipment used Percentage of all counties I Volume 109 2000 Punch card* Lever machine Paper ballot Optical scan Electronic 2002 ‘Includes ‘Datavote. tit- SOURCE: Electron Data Services “The backup system worked.” For Tuesday’s elections, 510 of the nation’s counties — or 16 percent — were using electron ic voting systems, up from 293 counties in 2000, according to Election Data Services, an inde pendent research company in Washington, D.C. Voting also w'ent well Tuesday in the nation’s largest county to go all-electronic: Harris County. Texas, which includes Houston. Harris’ new system uses 5.2-pound machines that look like person al digital assistants on steroids. Voters use a dial to highlight names. Other states with con®! debuting high-tech equij included Louisiana Mississippi. Many counties rushet: replace outdated equipme:: avoid a balloting fiasco 14ti one that besmirched the presidential vote in Fli And that meant that mad were deployed more than reasonable, analystssaj If there were majorprobia| Tuesday, it could foreshii trouble for 2004, when s states will have high- machines thanks toane\d: billion federal law to helpsu replace outdated equipment By D THE Texas A&M jates said in Wednesday ths bach R.C. Sloe Respite the Agj |he field this J [decisions about made by the ne s yet to be n an il is my i (director will respect to the pi [under his or her Slocum, in Wednesday evei Gates’ support. " am proud His GOP takes Georgia si to win Senate majoritji WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans ousted a Georgia Democrat on Tuesday and won a hotly contested race in New Hampshire as the GOP pushed to overturn the Democrats’ one-vote majority in the Senate. In Georgia. Republican Rep. Saxby Chambliss defeateditej ate first-term Democratic Sen. Max Cleland. a triple amputee the Vietnam War, after chiding him for opposing President Bi | plan for creating a new Department of Homeland Security. Rep. John Sununu was victorious for the GOP in Hampshire, retaining a Republican-held seat that Democrat f high hopes of winning. He defeated Democratic Gov. 1® Shaheen, despite a lack of help from many conservatives bin his primary defeat of Republican Sen. Bob Smith. The turnover in Georgia could prove crucial to the GOPsM reclaim control of the Senate in the Congress that convenes ini» | In a ferocious state-by-state battle, initial results sho«M each party was recapturing most seats held by inam Incomplete results had Republicans leading in races torDemocr. held seats in Missouri and Minnesota. Democrats threatens | defeat GOP Sen. Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas, . In North Carolina, Republican Elizabeth Dole wontheng-1 succeed the retiring Sen. Jesse Helms, batting downa cnaei by Democrat Erskine Bowles, the one-time chief ot sta President Clinton. In South Carolina, four-term GOP Rep. Lindsey ^If t * ianl or! i| replace another outgoing conservative icon, Sen. Strom Thu I Graham bested Democrat Alex Sanders, the former Co eg | Charleston president. Thurmond will turn 100 next month and will leave the ben I January after serving a record 47 years and three months. I Democrats held the New Jersey seat that will be re *' nc J ul j oll rl Sen. Robert Torricelli, who abruptly ended his campaign as I after ethics violations seemed to end his chances * Dein ^.- e e( ) t ,;| ed. Returning in his place will be Frank Lautenberg, w'horeir | years ago after an 18-year Senate career. After th Indepet Republicans on track to take House control WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans turned aside crucial Democratic challenges in region after region Tuesday and headed towards extending their eight- year control of the House of Representatives. Democratic hopes of regain ing the chamber dimmed as Republicans chalked up wins or were leading in most of the races earlier seen as toss-ups. Americans voted to fill all 435 House seats, but only a tenth of them were truly competitive. Early Wednesday with only Alaska’s polls still open, Republicans had won 195 seats and were leading in 32 others. If that trend continued. Republicans would hold 227 seats — four more than they do in the current Congress. Majority control requires 218 votes. Traditionally, the president’s party loses seats in midterm elections. But this year, Republicans appeared to be helped by President Bush’s pop ularity and by the relatively low number of competitive races. Democrats needed a net gain of seven seats to reclaim the control they lost in 1994. As returns rolled in, it seemed like ly they would fall far short—not only failing in some high-pro file challenges to Republican incumbents but also losing WASHING President Bus Sav ored swe Action victc began ske . a new, trolled Cong [Mouse Democ Position in 'chard Gepl Party leadei “I’m excit ‘ on some of their own In a closely wa ^ e ^ b i K J contest, three-term Rep Rep. Anne Northup detea | Democrat Jack A Republican Jeb BradMG un Democrat Ma |/ i haF . hil . eS eat«publican Si an open New Humps l^ississippi had been Republican^ she „Jfut Ure Senatc Republican Re P e dt£ #^ — — MooreCap.towonaseco | in West Virginia, d Jjff Democratic cha ” e "f aW yer,iJ Humphreys, a wea ‘ thy £X what was the mo ^ eC P oun ttv congressional race i , .^i with $9 million raised a d Republicans won thr ^ races that ,eatL ^ C ‘ r incU ni^ running against ot ict ;ngto — the result oi a real reflect population ch an g „ R . Rep. Nancy Jo^ ^ Conn., defeated ^ Rep , Maloney, D-Conn., ^ Charles Pickering, ^ „ defeated Rep. ^ R-l Miss. Rep. John 5,11 £ D defeated Rep. DaV '^ rict V Ill., in a downstate d Republican incumbent ! ng . ,h l.?r°v C o r fe count'- ,l ' include a ne\ homeland Se l ,ar geted tax ec onomy. ]- Mush’s judich ex Pect speedii Bush ma re marks duri aide s said he != lv ' n g the apt ln §' “There’s ! " lH l be pres I to tocrats an }” said hi cischer. Bepublicar 51 seats in tl ward bem i it