Estadistica De Fallas De Equipo Computo

Chapter 11
Voting Equipment Malfunctions

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) sought information in the Election Day Survey about voting equipment malfunctions that occurred at the November 2004 general election. The survey asked state election directors to identify by county and precinct, if available, where any of the following malfunctions occurred and whether the affectedvoting machines were returned to service:
14a. Power failure
An interruption or failure that renders a voting machine incapable of counting votes for more than five minutes during Election Day, absentee, or early voting.

14b. Broken counter
A malfunction of a lever voting machine that renders the machine incapable of counting additional votes on any votable position.

14c. Computer failure
Asoftware, hardware, or firmware malfunction, disablement, or interruption that renders a voting machine incapable of presenting the ballot, recording votes, or printing or tabulating results.

14d. Printer failure
A malfunction or interruption of the printer hardware, software, or mechanical components constituting the mechanism for creating a printed result of all contests voted (includesprinters on electronic and mechanical lever voting machines).

14e. Screen failure
A malfunction or interruption of the screen display or indicator lights on an electronic voting machine (DRE) that renders the machine incapable of indicating which choices a voter has made or which races for which the voter is eligible to vote.

14f. Fatal damage to machine
Damage to or destruction of a votingmachine that renders the machine incapable of recording votes or printing the results of voting.

14g. Modem failure
A malfunction or interruption of a modem or the computer hardware or software using a modem to transmit election results to a central-counting location that renders the modem incapable of transmitting election results.

14h. Scanner failure
A malfunction or interruption of apaper ballot reading device that either renders the device incapable of counting votes or renders the tabulated results inaccurate.

14i. Ballot encoder/activator failure
A malfunction or interruption of that piece of a DRE that encodes a smart card or other similar device with the voter’s ballot or with critical demographic data that allows the machine to access the proper ballot for the voter.14j. Audio ballot failure
A malfunction or interruption of the hardware, software, or peripherals that renders a DRE incapable of playing an audio version of the ballot.

14k. Other voting machine malfunctions

Election Data Services, Inc. 2004 Election Day Survey Report, Part 2 Survey Results Voting Equipment Malfunctions, Page 11-2

September 27, 2005

Applicability and CoverageQuestion 14 on voting equipment malfunctions had by far the least coverage of any of the survey questions. Twenty-one states did not respond to the question or said that information on malfunctions was not available. Two states said that no voting equipment malfunctions were reported, and 10 states reported only one to six malfunctions statewide. Of 20 states that provided detailed county-by-countyresponses, only eight specified whether the affected machines were returned to service and only four identified the precincts in which the malfunctions occurred. In all, we have information from only 485 of the 6,567 jurisdictions in the EAC database, or only seven percent of the country. Table 14a shows the type of voting equipment used by these jurisdictions. Of these 485 jurisdictions, 210 usedoptical scan systems, 191 used electronic voting systems, 36 used lever machines, 11 used punch cards, and four used hand-counted paper ballots. Thirteen responses were from jurisdictions using more than one type of voting equipment.
Figure 11.1
Jurisdictions with Equipment Malfunctions
Punch Card, 11, 2% Mixed, 13, 3%

Paper ballots, 4, 1%

Electronic, 191, 41%

Optical Scan, 210, 45%...