Detroit Voting Machine Failures Were Widespread on Election Day
More than 80 voting machines in Detroit malfunctioned on Election Day, officials say, resulting in ballot discrepancies in 59% of precincts that raise questions about the reliability of future election results in a city dominated by Democratic and minority voters.
"This is not the first time," adds Daniel Baxter, elections director for the city. "We've had this problem in nearly every election that we administer in the city of Detroit." Baxter says that the machines were tested for accuracy before election day in accordance with state and federal guidelines, but that sometimes the machines "hit up against each other and malfunction" as they're being transported to the precincts.
The machines were optical scanners, meaning they registered and counted the votes marked on paper ballots. Many of the machines jammed over the course of election day, perhaps because Michigan had a two-page ballot this year, which meant that paper ballots were collected but inconsistently recorded by the machines. Michigan does not have early voting, so any mechanical malfunction would necessarily happen on election day, since that's the only day the machines are used. That's why so many machines malfunctioned at the same time. "You don't expect a laptop to last 10 years, and you shouldn't expect a voting machines to last 10 years," says Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey.
The errors were found as part of a recount process prompted by losing Green Party candidate for President Jill Stein. The Michigan recount was halted last week after a judge determined that Stein, who has urged recounts in several states, did not qualify as an "aggrieved party" in the election, making her request for a recount invalid. Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes. "The recount campaign was premised on the notion that we deserve a voting system we can trust," said Dr. Jill Stein in a press call Tuesday about the recount efforts. "No, we do not have a voting system we can trust."
