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2 Candidates Question Vote In Pr. George's
"The integrity of the election is at stake," said Donna Edwards. Her legal complaint will focus on the security of voting machines that contained voting cards and weren't given to the Board of Elections until late Wednesday.
(By Matt Houston -- Associated Press)
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Antonetti said that a number of cards were accidentally left in voting machines and that the last of those cards -- close to three dozen in as many machines -- were expected to be delivered to his office late yesterday. On Wednesday, election officials said data were not received from 81 of the county's 2,056 voting machines. The numbers represented two whole precincts -- in Chillum and Landover -- as well as cards from machines at 34 polling stations.
Although the machines have not been under guard, Antonetti said he is confident the cards have not been tampered with. The machines are kept in locked cases, he said, and security tape ensures that any tampering with a machine would be evident.
Edwards described the delay in reporting as "very suspicious." "I don't want to rush to judgment," she said. "I'm still trying to figure out what is going on."
Edwards has asked not only for data from each precinct, but also for "machine-by-machine data."
"They need to verify the chain of custody of these machines," she said.
Antonetti blamed the problems in part on the rapid pace of technological change, which he said was driven by Linda H. Lamone, the state elections administrator. He also accused her office of missing delivery deadlines, leaving the county short on materials needed to train 3,000 election workers, and altering procedures belatedly.
Lamone rejected the allegations, saying that older equipment Antonetti had on hand for training purposes did not differ significantly from the equipment used in the primary.
She noted that Antonetti, unlike many other elections administrators, declined to hire technical support workers from Diebold Inc., manufacturer of the voting machines.
Antonetti said the workers were too expensive and, in his view, no better trained than the less-well-paid technical staff he hired after advertising in newspapers.
Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) said yesterday that he was concerned enough about the balloting to call the state prosecutor's office, which, he said, has jurisdiction over election issues.
Ivey said that even if voter irregularities were within his purview, he would have to refer the matter to another authority because of his endorsement of Baker.
