10
Wednesday, November 6, 2002
NEW
TH E BATTAliJ
Got chacosi? New voting machines great, voters sa
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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
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ARRIVE
SAFELY.
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
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