Originally posted at Writeindependent.org on December 27, 2011
In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a local paper reports: “Diane Skilling, interim chief of the county Board of Elections, said paper ballots provide a write-in option for every office. But “in order for the scanner to read the name, the voter must first check the box located next to the ‘write-in’ option, then write the name in on the line underneath.”
When using a Disabled Access Unit (DAU) video screen (Disabled Access Unit, or DAU) the voter enters the cursor in the write-in box on the electronic ballot, hits enter, then has to type in the name in the resulting window that pops up.
If poll workers tell you that you can’t cast a write-in vote on a machine, don’t believe them. It may mean that they just haven’t been trained how to do a write-in vote. Demand that they call the county board of elections immediately to find out how to do it.
A group in Pennsylvania called NOTA (None of the Above) writes: “During the 2006 Primary in Philadelphia, the Danaher 1242 machines broke down frequently when voters attempted to write-in votes. The cause turned out to be an improper fitting of write-in tape by election officials. If this kind of thing happens, what do you do? We recommend you do what Barb our Treasurer did — don’t panic, and demand that the machine be fixed before you continue voting.”