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Georgia voting machine suspected of 'flipping' presidential votes

Early voters wait outside George Pierce Park Community Recreation Center in Suwanee, Georgia, on Wednesday, October 26, 2016. 

BRYAN COUNTY, Ga. — A voting machine in Bryan County, Georgia, that might have been "flipping" some Georgia voters' picks for president has been removed from service after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the problem to state election officials.

A voter who experienced a problem during early voting contacted the AJC, saying that it took three tries Tuesday on a machine at the county's administration complex before it correctly recorded his choice of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

He said he selected Clinton on the first two tries, but the touch screen on the machine changed to show his selection as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, which he canceled before trying again. He said his wife had a similar experience on the same machine.

The voter asked that the AJC not publish his name.

The Georgia Secretary of State's Office has opened an investigation into the incident. Bryan County election supervisor Cindy Reynolds told the AJC that the machine was one of eight in operation for early voting. At least 20 people had previously used the machine that day; no one reported any problems to poll workers but, she said, "I went ahead and took it down just to be sure."

Merle King, executive director of the state's Center for Election Systems at Kennesaw State University, said it seemed likely that the issue was related to the machine's calibration.

Since 2002, Georgia has used what in the industry are called "direct-recording electronic" voting machines, or DREs, known by voters for their touch screens. To accurately collect a voter's intent, the touch screen must be tilted toward the voter at approximately a 45-degree angle. If it is improperly calibrated, King said, it will mark the voter's choice either above or below the intended target area.

In this instance, King said, "it sounds like the voter did the correct thing -- they checked the summary screen for correctness before casting the ballot."

The state has received no reports of similar problems elsewhere. King called the problem "uncommon," noting that the state has "already had close to 800,000 ballots cast on the DREs (this fall), and this is the first report we have had."

While use of the machine has been stopped, King said all votes already cast will be tabulated after polls close on Nov. 8.

Many of the more than 27,000 voting machines in Georgia are at least 13 years old, and aging machines are an issue for states across the country. However, Georgia regularly tests the machines, and officials said the system was ready for the election this year. 

Early voting in Georgia began Oct. 17 and runs through Nov. 4. Turnout in the state is running about 4.5 percent ahead of 2012 for the same time period during the last presidential election four years ago.