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christine c reid
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Ctwatcher
Post Number: 962
Registered: 12-2007
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 3:26 pm: | 
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This experience in New Bedford, Mass. may help someone someday. A dark blue ink that somehow read as black was unreadable by the machines, and they all had to be recalibrated. Only the GOP ballots would not read; Dem were fine.
A story about troubleshooting on a ballot nonreadability issue connected to ES&S M100 is linked in; the excellent troubleshooting method in that story helped the New Bedford people to troubleshoot/confirm their issues were accurately identified.
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/149/78045.html?1221158187 |
Mike LaBonte
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Mike_labonte
Post Number: 274
Registered: 12-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 7:22 am: |
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Can someone describe exactly what the New Bedford ballot looks like, or at least indicate what tabulator they use? Our Republican ballots have a very light blue background at the top, but the edges where the encoding marks are always have a white background. Since the MA elections division directs all ballot printing for state elections, I would be surprised if the New Bedford ballots looked much different from ours.
Here is a picture of a Massachusetts Democrat ballot for Optech from a previous primary. Here is an AccuVote ballot. Just imagine the orange parts being baby blue for the Republican ballots. I don't know of any other paper tabulator certified for use in MA. How could the colored part cause any problem, especially since none of the other 360 MA cities and towns have reported a problem?
Unless I have missed something, I don't think all the evidence is in yet to prove what the fault is in New Bedford. The evidence about M100 problems is good. But does New Bedford uses an M100? I do not recall that one being certified in MA. |
christine c reid
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Ctwatcher
Post Number: 966
Registered: 12-2007
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 11:58 am: |
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Mike, the only issue was the ink color in MA, not the ballot color. Both were an issue in California, dark blue was the culprit, and both involved calibration errors.
My take on what was said is that what MA learned from the M100 problems in California did not match in terms of source of the problem, but the thinking process and I would guess tip that dark blue ink caused reading issues enabled MA to corroborate what they thought the issue was all along. |
Mike LaBonte
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Mike_labonte
Post Number: 276
Registered: 12-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 12:45 pm: |
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I just spoke with someone in the New Bedford commissioners office. As Christine explained the problem involves a slightly darker shade of blue than usual in the ballot header patch, and AutoMark scanner miscalibration. I assume this means an optical scan head calibration (it has 3 of them), not the screen and printer calibrations that anyone can do.
But she also said that their AutoMarks required a software upgrade, something that many of us did back in February. I upgraded our 22 machines and it took about 9 hours to do that and then test the machines. So I can sympathize with them for suddenly discovering that they had to upgrade 42 machines. It is possible that they discovered the software revision problem and fixed it first, and they may not know if that had any bearing on the problem. I didn't ask.
We talked about that fact that there is no way the header patch should have any effect on reading the ballot, because that entire area is always completely ignored. She agreed that the explanation given still makes no sense, but is happy that the faulty machines work now. Not all of their AutoMarks had the problem. |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 5275
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 1:20 pm: |
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quote:We talked about that fact that there is no way the header patch should have any effect on reading the ballot, because that entire area is always completely ignored. She agreed that the explanation given still makes no sense
So some people think the real cause of the problem has not yet been identified? |
Mike LaBonte
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Mike_labonte
Post Number: 277
Registered: 12-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 2:17 pm: |
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I have yet to hear a complete explanation. So far we have "it has something to do with" type explanations.
By the way, I forgot to mention that New Bedford uses Optech machines. So now we know what the ballots look like.
If I had to guess an explanation for how the patch color could throw the AutoMark off, it would be that the AutoMark gets a base reflectivity reading in the first few inches of the ballot and calibrates on that. That could make it misread the rest of the ballot. But I believe the Optech ballot ID is in the top few inches, so that theory makes sense only if the AutoMark interprets on the fly.
If the machine scans the entire ballot into memory before interpreting, which a machine of that genre should, then I have to admit it could throw itself off with an algorithm that expects no large dark patches. It could be using as much of the ballot as it likes to get a base reflectivity reading. Again, I do not know in detail how the AutoMark works. |
christine c reid
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Ctwatcher
Post Number: 970
Registered: 12-2007
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 3:37 pm: |
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Mike, if you can tell me how to upload a doc here, I will upload the report from Jill LaVine's office that is partially quoted in the links above.
I think a number of issues applicable to the M100 might easily apply here. Inconsistent settings during maintenance, lack of "read head" or DAC (digital analog converstion) setting adjustment during PM, poorly trained PM techs, the lack of an ES&S spec on color intensity (light blue is not dark blue in terms of how the machine reads it), the failure to provide Sacramento County with a spec from 2006 that dealt with where on the ballot you can put color and avoid having it rejected.
Because the M100 reads voter marks and the AutoMark does not, New Bedford doesn't have to be concerned about the impact of adjusting settings to read the ballot printer ink (and losing the ability to read voter marks at the other end of the darkness scale), luckily.
So, if you have access to past specs from ES&S for your Automarks, Mike, that April 2006 spec sheet about the placement of the tinting in order to eliminate ballot rejection issues. Jill Lavine discovered that no other California ES&S counties or their printers about this were aware of these new specifications.
It is not clear if the specification applies to the AutoMark, but it's a shot in the dark... in later testing, a blue, a brown, and a lavender ink all caused problems in reading the ballots.
It does concern me that with our town-based election systems in New England, local officials are not likely to have the expertise at their command to fathom, evaluate (e.g. the potential that inadequate maintenance is source of part of problem) and aggressively plan to avoid the same problem in the future. If no one understands the problem, then that's a problem.
Sacramento County was all over this and completely determined to train their own techs if they had to to stop the unskilled, uneven maintenance. Much larger operation, much more technical expertise at hand, and probably a professional registrar. Maybe some inhouse centralized tech assistance is something that the state level would consider providing as a service to towns? Otherwise, they are very vulnerable.
I will see if Bev can help me get this uploaded into the archives so I can link to it here. |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 5278
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 4:07 pm: |
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Christine,
What are "PM" and "PM techs"?
(guess--Printer Maintenance?) |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 5279
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 4:11 pm: |
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Christine,
Your 4th paragraph (first sentence) above seems to be missing a word or two. Mike will probably know what you mean but I'm not clear about it. |
Mike LaBonte
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Mike_labonte
Post Number: 279
Registered: 12-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 6:58 pm: |
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Our AutoMarks were bought last year, so we have no old info on them. About uploading, the best way is to begin by clicking the "Upload Attachment..." button, which will open a popup window like this:
Not that popup blockers might make it not appear. You fill in the title and browse for a file, then click Upload. The confirmation looks like this:
As the window says, you will find something like one of these in the posting area:
\ popattach{78085,My Document}
\ popjpeg{78086,Upload confirmation}
I find it best to keep that on a line by itself. Don't lose it or the attachment will be lost in space. Also the attachment mechanism is picky about case. For example .jpg works fine but .JPG I think will not be recognized as an image. And .zip files will download with a .unk extension. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 9741
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 8:11 pm: |
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Thanks, Mike! |
christine c reid
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Ctwatcher
Post Number: 973
Registered: 12-2007
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 9:55 pm: |
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Thanks Mike. Where do I look for this upload attachment prompt?
Sorry, Catherine, PM was my trying to write fast and not have to write out preventative maintenance. So I guess you now know what PM techs are. California found that they were uneven in how they performed the work, and they determined that either well trained techs would do the work, or they would train people and do it themselves!
re: The missing words you mention from my post above -- I was trying to say to Mike that the particular spec might clarify the issue as to why dark blue in the header area would cause the ballot not to read. |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 5281
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008 - 4:59 am: |
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quote:Where do I look for this upload attachment prompt?
Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page.
Below the text box you use to type your messages you'll see several boxes. (Exact placement and fields may vary according to your browser.) They are titled:
Username:
Password:
Options:
Action: [Here I see two buttons side by side. One says "Preview/Post Message" and the other says "Upload Attachment..."]
That second button is the one you want. |
christine c reid
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Ctwatcher
Post Number: 976
Registered: 12-2007
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008 - 5:29 am: |
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DUH!
Thanks, Catherine! |
Mark Michaels
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Mark_michaels
Post Number: 48
Registered: 1-2008
Best of Black Box? 
Votes: 3 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008 - 10:52 am: |
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Some optical scanners require different settings depending on the color of the ballot. A setting that works perfectly for a ballot with black ink on white stock may not be as effective for a ballot on colored stock or a ballot printed with colored ink. A good technician will ask, "Do you have your test ballots yet? Can I have at least one of each while I do the final teaking on the machines?" Of course, if ballots haven't been printed yet, or the tech is doing an annual maintenance routine, he won't be able to set the machine for optimal performance for colored ballots. There is no designated setting per color table. Scanners don't "see and report" colors. They "see" everything in terms of the gray scale (the difference between white at one end of the scale and black at the other). The tech is watching a meter, and makes adjustments to maximize voltages. It's rather hit or miss, and can be quite tedious. |
christine c reid
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Ctwatcher
Post Number: 980
Registered: 12-2007
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008 - 11:26 am: |
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Thanks for the insights, Mark. Nice to see you in these parts once again. |
Mike LaBonte
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Mike_labonte
Post Number: 280
Registered: 12-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008 - 11:37 am: |
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This ballot has black ink on a white stock. There is just a patch of color at the top, but nothing in this patch has to be read by the scanner. The scanner only has to read black marks on a white background. This is still a mystery because something that the scanner has no business looking at affects the outcome.
Here is a picture of a Massachusetts Optech ballot. You can see the ballot ID marks in the top left corner, completely outside the colored patch. The voting area is completely below the colored patch. |
Mark Michaels
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Mark_michaels
Post Number: 49
Registered: 1-2008
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, September 14, 2008 - 3:45 pm: |
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Is the specific ballot that won't read a Diebold ballot, a Sequoia/BRC arrow ballot (like the above Optech ballot illustration) or an ES&S oval ballot?
What is the specific error that is logged when the scanner fails to read the ballot?
Are the Dem ballots that read essentially identical to the Rep ballots (which don't) except for the color bar and code marks? Same stock? Same black inl? Same size? Same ballot layout? Are you certain the color is the only technical difference between the two? How close is the color to the nearest black coding marks in hundredths of an inch?
A picture of the actual ballot type that is not reading would help greatly. |
Mike LaBonte
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Mike_labonte
Post Number: 281
Registered: 12-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, September 14, 2008 - 4:32 pm: |
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Good questions Mark. New Bedford has Optechs so the ballots have to be broken arrow style.
No one has reported what the specific error was, except to say that it would not accept the ballot to the point where voting could begin. So I assume it's the AutoMark "Ballot Not Recognized" message, but can't say for sure.
Since all state election ballot printing in MA is managed by the state, I think I can safely assert that the ballots of all parties in New Bedford are supposed to be identical in layout specs and materials, but not patch color, ballot ID and text printing, just as they are in my city.
Since the color patch on the Republican ballot in New Bedford was darker than tha baby blue it was supposed to be, that becomes the most obvious culprit. Pictures with enough accuracy to compare the marking specs would be good, but I doubt any such images will ever appear. Besides, they got it working with the same ballots. |
christine c reid
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Ctwatcher
Post Number: 990
Registered: 12-2007
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, September 15, 2008 - 6:59 am: |
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Just to complete the info provided above, here is a link to the M100 troubleshooting document (report to the county by Jill LaVine, their registrar, about the multiple issues identified in a M100 failure to read ballots situation, and the multifaceted solutions planned or implemented. We are talking about an ES&S Automark, not an ES&S M100, but the thought process and some of the info may be useful in troubleshooting ballot rejection issues.
http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/show.cgi?tpc=9707&post=49922#POST49922
I have to say that of the colors mentioned in LaVine's report, the blue described in New Bedford, Mass. did not come up in the list of colors identified as causing problems with printing (but maybe it was not among those tested, or maybe the AutoMark's light reader is different). I mention this because as Mike LaBonte has pointed out, it is not clear that anyone is absolutely certain what happened -- only that recalibration apparently worked.
Ink problem? Calibration done poorly and blamed on an ink problem?
Hmm, maybe New England states, with town-based elections, could prevent reinventing the wheel by requiring the report of problems be made in detail (a form with che database ck boxes might speed it up), filed in a statewide or regional database, and available to the public and obviously other towns in the region as a lessons learned -- known issues archive. |
christine c reid
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Ctwatcher
Post Number: 1079
Registered: 12-2007
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 5:18 am: |
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I'm not sure why I didn't get this document into the thread earlier. It's an excellent resource for any entity using the M100, not only for the information, but for the careful troubleshooting methodology. |
M100 Ballot Rejection Investigation Sacramento County, CA 2008