A
study just released by
VotersUnite looking at voting statistics in 2004 and 2006 in minority precincts in New Mexico finds that when voters used optically scanned ballots, it resulted in many fewer undervotes compared to when voters used DREs.
To quote from the press release:
The report explains: "Undervotes represent ballots on which no vote was registered for a specific contest. Undervote rates higher than 0.5% in the major contest on a ballot, especially in presidential elections, suggest that votes may not have been counted, either through a mistake of the voter or a mistake in tabulation."
The report shows that in predominantly Native American and predominantly Hispanic precincts, undervote rates were abnormally high (7.61% and 6.33% respectively) in the 2004 presidential race, when the votes were cast on DREs.
In 2006, after the state changed to all optically scanned paper ballots, the undervote rates for Governor in those same precincts plummeted by 85% in Native American areas and by 69% in predominantly Hispanic precincts.
This study effectively challenges the assumption that touchscreen electronic voting machines are somehow easier and more accurate for minority voters to use.
The data used in the study can be found
here.
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