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Early Voters In Texas Say Their Votes Were Changed From Trump To Clinton By Voting Machines

By Tara West
Published on: 10:48 PST, Oct 25, 2016

Some early voters in Texas are saying that the ballot machine changed their vote from Trump to Clinton despite selecting a straight party Republican ballot. Multiple voters have reported that after selecting the option for a straight Republican ballot, Clinton/Kaine was marked for president. The voters say the confirmation showed all the Republican candidates selected except when it came to the presidential ballot, in both cases Clinton was marked instead. The issue has caused at least one county to execute an “emergency protocol” and has removed all electronic machines until software can be updated to fix the issue.

KissFM969 reports that some early voters are concerned that ballot machines in Texas may not be registering straight Republican Party ballots correctly. Voters in both Canyon and Dallas have reported the issue in which Trump votes are being changed to Clinton, allegedly by the ballot machines.

https://www.facebook.com/lisa.houlette/posts/10207673604943708

All of the individuals making the claims say they informed polling staff and were able to correct the vote before processing; however, they say that all voters should check their confirmation screens before submitting their ballot.

https://www.facebook.com/shandy.clark.1/posts/781098258694741

Breitbart reports that Chambers County Clerk Heather Hawthorne has confirmed that electronic voting has currently been halted for early voting until software can be updated to correct the issue.

“Chambers County election officials have executed an emergency protocol to remove all electronic voting machines available during early voting until a software update can be completed to correct problems experienced by straight-ticket voters.”

Despite the purported validation of the claims by the Chambers County Clerk, at least one other county says the machines are fine. Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner says that “there is nothing wrong with the machines” and says it is not machines that flip votes, it is people that do that. Potter County is going even further by stating that paper ballots are not an option.

In a press release issued by Judge Tanner to the media, the judge blames “user error” for the Trump/Clinton ballot issues.

“There is nothing wrong with any of the machines we use for voting. They do not flip your vote. They do not flip parties. Humans do that.”

Though the judge claims that there is nothing wrong with the machines and that only a human could cause such an error, she seems to confirm at least one of the incidents as machine error.

“There was one incident in Randall County where a voter voted straight ticket and when they hit the vote button, it flipped parties. They reported it to the election official and they cancelled that ballot and allowed the voter to vote again on another machine.”

However, she says that after the incident, the machine was checked and it was operating properly. Therefore, it is unclear if the machine was taken out of commission or if it will continue to be used as it was deemed “operational.” Due to concerns over the potential problems with voting machines, some have encouraged voters to ask for a paper ballot instead.

However, the Texas judge seemed to squash the idea that a paper ballot would or could be issued in Texas, noting that it is a “rumor” and one cannot request a paper ballot and will not be given one.

“I urge you, the media, to check out the stories before you report them and to also squelch any rumors that you ‘can ask for a paper ballot.’ You cannot.”

What do you think about the Potter County response to the purported ballot issues? If Chambers County has halted use of the electronic machines over straight party voting concerns, should all Texas counties do the same if they are utilizing the same machines? How do you feel about the county claiming they will not offer paper ballots to voters?

[Featured Image by John Minchillo/AP Images]

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