Despite the provision of a $380 million federal grant to enhance technology and improve security in the 2018 midterm elections, machine failures and computer malfunctions again plagued polling places, resulting in late openings, long lines, and turned-away voters.
Poor ballot layouts resurfaced in Florida, resulting in nearly 25,000 missed votes and the removal of the Broward County Supervisor of Elections, due to “misfeasance, incompetence, and neglect of duty.”
Many of the unauditable electronic voting machines have finally been replaced with paper ballot scanners, but creative state legislation has been used to thwart and prohibit hand counting, even when results fall within the range of equipment error.
At an upcoming meeting of the Princeton Macintosh Users Group, security expert Rebecca Mercuri will examine some of the old and new shenanigans that we may be looking forward to seeing in 2020, shed light on the reasons why contrived (and even avoidable) disenfranchisement continues to play a fundamental role in American democracy, and offer some suggestions for improvement.
The meeting will take place Tuesday, February 12 ,at 6:45 p.m. at Stuart Hall, Room 3, at the Princeton Theological Seminary. For more information, visit www.pmug-nj.org.
