Republicans Want Touch-Screen Voting Machines Recalibrated
DENVER (CBS4) - Republicans say touch-screen voting machines could malfunction and now the party has called on six states, including Colorado, to watch them.
There are dozens of reports across the county of electronic votes misfiring and malfunctioning. Proving those reports hasn't been easy, but it has been enough for Republican lawyers to put extra scrutiny on several states.
"When you're talking about a couple dozen instances across six states, this is something that we felt was important for election officials to look into in the four days before Election Day," Republican Party spokesperson Tim Miller said.
The Republican National Committee sent a letter to six secretaries of state. Four of them are in swing states that could decide the election. The letter cites malfunctions at electronic voting booths that they say miscast votes intended for Mitt Romney to Barack Obama.
"When you're looking at a state like Colorado that we expect to be very close, it's particularly important there," Miller said.
There have been just over a dozen reports of voting malfunctions in Colorado. Nine are from Pueblo and three from Adams County. But Secretary of State Scott Gessler says those reports have not been proven.
"We did an investigation, my office, along with the clerk and recorder and we brought in both parties and we weren't able to reproduce the problem," Gessler said.
Only one case did. In Mesa County a voting machine malfunctioned on the first day of early voting. Three people had used the machine, but only one reported a problem. That person was given a paper ballot and the machine was taken offline.
Republican lawyers have asked that all electronic voting machines be recalibrated before Election Day and for more signage for voters to check their ballots. Gessler says that's not likely to happen.
Gessler says they'll monitor the voting very closely on Tuesday for any problems. His office might ask for recalibration county by county, but only if there proves to be a need.
