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Machines help prevent cross balloting in primary

Voting machines are actually helping voters prevent making mistakes, according to Judy Steele, supervisor of precinct 3 located at East Lansing Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road.

“People have gotten confused and have been doing some crossing over, you’re supposed to be voting either Democratic or Republican,” Steele said. “This is a primary you have to vote one or the other.”

Cross balloting occurs when voters select both Democratic and Republican candidates on their ballots, rendering the ballot void, Steele said.

However, for those who vote in person any mistake is caught immediately when voters insert their ballots into the tabulating machine. The machine beeps and returns the ballot with a receipt saying what mistake was made. The precinct can then give them a new ballot.

“However, if they voted absentee and they crossed over it will void the whole thing, and there’s nothing we can do,” Steele said.

Because the ballot is two sided, many voters are forgetting to continue along the party line once they start voting on the reverse side of the ballot, she said.

Published on Tuesday, August 5, 2008