PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Palm Beach County election officials are urging voters to double-check their ballots after some early voters raised concerns about selections they say did not register the way they intended on ExpressVote ballot-marking devices.
Boca Raton resident Ceil Friedenthal is one of them. She voted early Tuesday at the South County Civic Center and said she noticed the issue more than once.
“I went to the machines and I pressed what I wanted and I used the tip of my finger, the pad of my finger, and a couple of times it defaulted to something I wasn't voting for,” Friedenthal said. “So if I voted for one party, it defaulted to the other, not every single time, but several.”
Friedenthal said in her case she was attempting to select a Democratic candidate, but the Republican candidate listed above was selected instead.
The experience immediately caught her attention.
“I better get somebody over here to take a look at it because I don't know what to do,” she recalled.
Friedenthal said she called a poll worker over three separate times because she caught three selections she believed were incorrect. Each time, she said a worker helped correct the issue.
For Friedenthal, making sure those selections were right mattered more than simply getting through the voting process quickly.
“Listen, in my opinion, as an ordinary U.S. citizen, the only thing we can do is vote,” she said. “There's really nothing else that we can do as an individual, so it's important that your vote be registered correctly.”
Friedenthal also told WPTV she had spoken with two other women who said they experienced something similar while early voting.
WPTV took Friedenthal's concerns directly to Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link.
Link said her office had received only a couple of reports directly from voters.
She stressed that when voters experience a problem, they should notify a poll worker immediately. That not only gives workers a chance to help the voter, but also allows election officials to identify the specific machine and test it.
“We have the ability to immediately test that machine and see if we can recreate the problem,” Link said. “Obviously if there is an issue, we're going to replace that machine.”
Link told WPTV election workers are also proactively checking the equipment.
“We are throughout the day, if there's not a voter at a machine, we are proactively testing them again, making sure everything's properly calibrated,” Link said. “To this moment, we have not been able to recreate the problem.”
In at least one instance where officials knew which machine a voter had used, Link said the office replaced it as a precaution.
“When we did have a voter tell us we used, you know, X machine, then just to be safe, we went ahead and replaced that machine,” Link said. “We brought it back to our office, tried to recreate the problem using fingers, and we couldn't, so we don't think it was the machine, but again, in an abundance of caution, we did replace that one because we did know which one it was.”
It was unclear which voting center that machine was located in.
Elections office points to several possible factors
Link said there is no setting on an ExpressVote machine that defaults a voter to a particular candidate.
Instead, Link said a voter's finger or fingernail can sometimes make contact with a different selection than intended.
“If your fingernail is a little long, you might be thinking you're hitting one, but you're really hitting the selection above,” Link said. “Or if you happen to have large hands, maybe you're hitting two different types of selections.”
Friedenthal disputes that explanation in her case.
“No, I use the pad of my finger, not the nail itself, and I pressed twice with the pad, so the nail wasn't involved at all,” she said.
While acknowledging that her fingernails are a little long, Friedenthal demonstrated to WPTV how she said she touched the screen.
Link also pointed to the age and responsiveness of the ExpressVote equipment as another factor voters should keep in mind.
“These machines are a little bit older. We're actually getting new ones,” Link said.
She said the newer machines are expected to be used in March.
“With the slower, a little bit slower technology, you may find that, like when you're used to hitting an iPhone, something, it shows up right away,” Link said. “And these may have just a slight delay from when you hit it before it acknowledges your selection.”
Link said repeatedly touching the screen while waiting for it to respond could potentially result in a voter touching another selection.
“So we just say give it a moment, let it make your selection, use the stylus,” Link said.
Why election officials want voters to use a stylus
The Supervisor of Elections Office is now emphasizing the use of the stylus available with the ExpressVote machines.
“There's a stylus provided with every machine because with that stylus, it is, you know, it is smaller than your finger, and so you're not going to be hitting two areas at the same time,” Link said.
Link said her office contacted poll workers after hearing the concerns and asked them to be more proactive about encouraging voters to use the stylus.
She said styluses should be available at every machine, with extras available at check-in if one is missing.
Friedenthal, however, told WPTV she did not remember seeing one when she voted.
“I didn't see anything, and nobody suggested anything,” she said. “They didn't say to me when I checked in, ‘Please use the stylus.’”
Voters also don't have to use an ExpressVote device. Link said every voter can choose between an ExpressVote machine and a traditional oval ballot.
The ExpressVote itself does not tabulate the vote. Link described it as a ballot-marking device that produces a paper ballot.
“It's called the Express Vote. That's the name of the machine, but yes, it's a ballot marking device,” Link said. “This does not tabulate the ballot. This actually just is marking your ballot.”
Voters have multiple chances to review their choices
Link stressed that voters using an ExpressVote have multiple opportunities to catch and correct a selection before their ballot is ultimately cast.
If a voter notices an incorrect selection while using the device, Link said it can be corrected before printing the ballot. The machine also gives voters an opportunity to review their selections at the end of the process.
“Then the voter has that chance to review all of those, and if they say, ‘No, I didn't want candidate A. I wanted candidate B,’ or what have you, then they have that opportunity to fix it right then,” Link said.
After the paper ballot is printed, voters get another opportunity to review it.
“Once they print out the paper ballot, then they can still review all of those selections again because it's printed for them,” Link said.
If a voter still finds a mistake on the printed ballot, Link said they can bring it to a poll worker, spoil the ballot and receive another one.
Her message to voters is simple: slow down, use the stylus if choosing the ExpressVote and check every selection.
“Make sure that you're double-checking your selections, whether you're using the Express Vote or the oval ballots,” Link said. “So, just double check your selections no matter which method you're choosing to use.”
That's also what Friedenthal wants other voters to take away from her experience.
“Just be careful,” Friedenthal said. “Watch the screen and make sure you're getting what you want.”
She said she hopes election officials continue looking into what happened.
“I just want them to look into why this glitch is occurring and for people to be careful so their vote can be counted.”
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