More voting problems reported in Jamestown, Pleasant Garden
Posted on: 7:54 pm, October 24, 2012, by Scott Gustin, Brandon Jones and Charlie Glancy, updated on: 10:14pm, October 24, 2012
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Once again, several voters in Guilford County are claiming the electronic voting machines are getting their votes wrong.
Now, some voters are concerned about polling locations in Jamestown and Pleasant Garden.
On Tuesday, voters who cast their ballots at the Bur-Mil Park polling location said when they attempted to vote for Mitt Romney the machine chose Barack Obama.
Similar problems have been reported in Jamestown and Pleasant Garden.
Faurest Stum says she voted at the Pleasant Garden Town Hall location. Her vote was for Mitt Romney, but the machine cast the vote for Barack Obama.
“I thought this might be a one-time glitch in the machine. I had no idea this might be happening somewhere else. This is when I called (FOX8) and said this needs to stop,” said Stum.
Guilford County Board of Elections Director George Gilbert says the problem is the machines needed to be re-calibrated.
Election officials say once the machines are rebooted, a new screen appears along with a new ballot.
“If you have calibration issues, it’s not systematically one way or another. It can go either way – and it has,” said Gilbert.
Gilbert says the machines are checked every morning and this problem isn’t unusual. The same issues were reported during the 2008 Presidential Election as well.
A sign that reads “ATTENTION! Review selections at the end of your ballot!” is posted inside the polling locations.
All of the voters who complained were able to get their vote corrected.
As of now, there are no plans to change the way voters will cast their ballots.
“To all those people that haven’t voted yet, encourage them to review their ballot before they cast their vote,” said Gilbert.
Guilford County switched to touchscreen in 1994. The electronic machines were purchased in 2006 from Electronic Systems Software.
No additional problems were reported on Wednesday.
So far, more than 930,000 people have cast their ballot in North Carolina, 12 percent of the states registered voters.
Early voting ends on November 3.