Boston Globe: R.I. Board of Elections calls for new protocols after ballot problems

Boston Globe: R.I. Board of Elections calls for new protocols after ballot problems

John M. Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, attended Wednesday’s meeting and tweeted, “Big takeaway for me is that there was no process in place that could have caught these mistakes. It’s a new technology implementation, which is hard, but there is a lot we could have learned from other states that have had them for years.” Marion and Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, noted that the printed ballots voters received after using the touchscreen are in English, even if the voter opted to vote in Spanish. “Not only does this obviously undercut the point of having a bilingual voting process in the first place, it is in clear violation of the federal law that requires this Spanish language option in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket,” they wrote.

PROVIDENCE — The state Board of Elections on Wednesday voted to create a written protocol for ballot verification after a series of mishaps involving new Spanish-language ballot machines.

The new touch-screen ballot machines for voting in Spanish erroneously displayed some 2018 candidates during this year’s early voting, and Providence mayoral candidate Gonzalo Cuervo’s name was misspelled as “Gonzolo.” …

John M. Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, attended Wednesday’s meeting and tweeted, “Big takeaway for me is that there was no process in place that could have caught these mistakes. It’s a new technology implementation, which is hard, but there is a lot we could have learned from other states that have had them for years.”

Marion and Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, noted that the printed ballots voters received after using the touchscreen are in English, even if the voter opted to vote in Spanish.

“Not only does this obviously undercut the point of having a bilingual voting process in the first place, it is in clear violation of the federal law that requires this Spanish language option in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket,” they wrote.

The Board of Elections agreed to have printed ballots from Spanish-language voting machines appear in either Spanish or in both Spanish and English, rather than just in English. While there’s not enough time to make that change before the Sept. 13 primary, the board wants the change made before the Nov. 8 general election.