Current Events - October 31, 2012

6 Days

More Electronic Voting Machines Changing Romney Votes to Obama: We Looked Into It and Here’s What a Vendor Told Us

Last week, TheBlaze brought you a story from a North Carolina voting precinct using electronic voting machines that was already experiencing issues where votes for GOP candidate Mitt Romney were being changed to Democratic candidate Barack Obama. Now, it’s allegedly happening again, this time in both Kansas and Ohio — and we talked to a vendor supporting the machines about the issue.

Nancy from Topeka, Kan., who asked that her last name not be used for reasons pertaining to her husband’s work, told TheBlaze she fears if voters aren’t double checking their selections, they’ll be “robbed of their vote.”

Nancy explained that while her husband was casting a vote for Romney, the touchscreen highlighted Obama.

“He played around with the field a little and realized that in order to vote for Romney, his finger had to be exactly on the mark,” Nancy wrote in an email. She said “the invisible Obama field came down about 1/4 [of an inch]” into what should technically have been the Romney area. In a phone interview with TheBlaze, she explained further that her husband said he felt the area on the touchscreen that could be pushed to vote for Obama was larger than that for Romney.

Nancy and her husband called the Kansas Secretary of State to report the problem and were informed that it was most likely a calibration issue.

“My concern is, is this intentional?” Nancy said. Posing this question to the Secretary of State’s office, Nancy told us they said it is unlikely that voter fraud would be occurring in Kansas, as it’s not a highly contested state.

The Marion Star also reported Wednesday that Ohio resident Joan Stevens experienced a similar case. She alerted a board of elections member at the voting location about the problem, who then called in the vendor providing support for the machines to check for calibration issues.

Sophia Rogers, director of the Marion County Board of Elections, told TheBlaze the Marion Star “got it wrong.” She said when techs came out to review the machine, they found everything was calibrated correctly.

The Marion Star reported Rogers saying the machine seemed to have been working fine for her and other voters as well. Still, the local newspaper did note Stevens saying that board of elections member Jackie Smith mentioned to her that the machine had been experiencing issues all day. Smith did not issue a comment to the Marion Star.

Regardless if there was issue or not, the fact remains that direct-recording electronic voting machines can experience calibration issues. It’s something that happens every election, and when voters come across a machine not recording their vote correctly, they should report it.


Politicians Lambaste Obama Admin After Libya Attack Suspect Transferred to Tunisia Where U.S. Officials Can’t Interrogate Him

The Tunisian man arrested over the deadly terror attack in Benghazi that left Ambassador Christopher Stevens, his aid Sean Smith, and two Navy SEALs dead has now been identified through facial recognition software as having been present at the U.S. diplomatic outpost during the siege, senior U.S. intelligence officials told Fox News Tuesday. The only problem is that Ali Ani al Harzi, who was detained at a Turkish airport in the days following the attack for travelling with false documents, has now been transferred to Tunisia, where U.S. interrogators are unable to reach him.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, frustrated by the incident, blames the Obama administration for U.S. officials being unable to access the Tunisian militant, who may have ties to al Qaeda.

“This individual in the hands of Tunisians is a classic example of what happens when you have lack of policy for detention for interrogations,” the Georgia Republican said.

“Once the president in January of 2009 signed the executive order, saying we are going to shut down Guantanamo … there are no policies in place to take possession and interrogate him in a way to gain valuable information.”

 

Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton agrees. During an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Tuesday, the longtime statesman joined Sen. Lindsey Graham in calling for a potential suspension of aid to Tunisia unless the country grants the U.S. access to Harzi.

 

“I don’t know what the total supply of foreign aid going into Tunisia is now, but I would be looking at substantial reduction if they don’t start cooperating, beginning tomorrow,” Bolton told Van Susteren.

NewsMax adds that, earlier in the broadcast, Graham said that he was “stunned to hear the Tunisians are denying us access to question this man [Harzi]” and that he is currently questioning officials at the Tunisian Embassy in Washington.

 

Meanwhile, Fox reports that The State Department has thus far not offered a comment on why access to Harzi is being obstructed by Tunisian authorities.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/politicians-lambaste-obama-admin-after-libya-attack-suspect-transferred-to-tunisia-where-u-s-officials-cant-interrogate-him/