Elections chief: This is just a test
Guilford County Elections Director George Gilbert tells the Inside Scoop that an election results page (captured here by Ed Cone) is just the result of a scripted test vote of all the precincts in the county.
Alert bloggers Mssrs. Cone, Hoggard and Capo found the page on the county's elections web site showing victories across the board for Republicans with only a couple hundred votes cast.
Gilbert said before every election, elections workers are sent out to every precinct to cast a predetermined test pattern of votes which are sent through the system and tallied as if it were election night. Afterwards, Gilbert checks to make sure the correct number of votes are in the right place. It just happened that those results made it onto the web.
Gilbert said the votes cast in the test will be erased, and all the electronic machines must show zero votes cast before they're opened on Nov. 2. He said there are strict safeguards in place to prevent outright fraud, but conceded that nothing is foolproof.
"If you've got dishonest people, I suppose it can be done," he said.
As for the GOP wins in the test ballot, Gilbert promised to spread the love next time around.
"Tell them to look next time and the Libertarians will win them all," Gilbert said.
Comments (3)
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Actually we have to thank Libertarian Candidate for Lt. Governor Christopher Cole for all our fun.
He maintains a google news scan for his name to keep him up to date on coverage of his campaign. When the BOE test site went up live, Mr. Cole picked up the posting of his name on the ballot. Knowing we would all be excited, he immediately relayed the news of our stunning showing in Guilford County to LP activists across the state.
For a few hours, we all enjoyed a good bask in our glory.
And yes, we certainly look forward to someday (this November 2nd would be nice) having "the Libertarians will win them all!"
Posted on October 25, 2004 9:06 PM
And all we must do is trust the Election Director, right? They are all 100% honest.
See http://www.ncvoter.net/briberyNC.html
Are the Guilford County election equipment test numbers an indication of someone's preferences?
Funny how it showed the difference btwn Kerry and Bush votes was 160, and showed Democrats voting straight ticket at 161.
Is that fortune telling? Dems vote straight ticket but not for Dem Pres candidate?
Why was this page publicly accessable?
Why is the ES&S Voting Systems copyright on the page?
What is there in place to prevent ES&S software from manipulating the results?
Why would anyone in the most powerful or dangerous country in the world seek to manipulate the results of an election?
What would that be worth?
Posted on October 26, 2004 10:54 PM
I see the editorial endorsement for Lt. Governor today only mentioned 2/3 of the candidates that were running in that race. That's a pity, but not a surprise.
Editorial page editor Allen Johnson told me that the News and Record discriminates against Libertarians because they are deemed "not serious candidates".
How very nice of the News and Record to choose our candidates for us! It makes our jobs easier on Election Day, doesn't it?
Sigh. The media truly is the 4th branch of government. I hope enough liberty-loving citizens wake up and stand up against such tyranny.
Posted on October 27, 2004 10:13 PM