Some glitches at polls  (IN)

The Herald Argus    08 November 2007

LA PORTE Although glitches greeted voters at five polling places Tuesday morning, the La Porte County Clerk’s office received only one complaint.

One of the computers used to program the voting machines had an incorrect date for the election Jan. 1, 2008. The machines don’t turn on if the programmed date doesn’t coincide with the actual date, Ralph Howes, member of La Porte County Election Board, told The La Porte County Herald-Argus Tuesday morning.

The glitches caused delays at five polling places:

In the 2nd Ward, Church of the Brethren remained open until 6:46 p.m. for the 2nd Precinct.

In the 3rd Ward, the Presbyterian Church remained open until 6:42 p.m. for the 1st Precinct and until 6:50 p.m. for the 3rd Precinct, and First United Methodist Church until 6:21 p.m. for the 2nd Precinct.

In the 4th Ward, the La Porte Civic Auditorium remained open until 6:34 p.m. for the 4th Precinct.

“From what I’ve been told it has to do with the programming in the Micro-Vote machines (Micro-Vote is the vendor La Porte County chose to purchase machines from),” Howes said.

Technicians were busy, however, and all of the polling places were in operation by 7:30 a.m.

La Porte Circuit Court Judge Thomas Alevizos ruled that those polling places affected should stay open later to abide by law, which requires polls to operate for 12 hours.