An e-m I received this morning (from two sources). I have no idea if
this is true or a hoax. I suggest contacting Ricardo Gandara as he
wrote a story on early voting which appeared in today's Statesman
here.

-----Original Message-----
This is from my friend Debbie who lives just east of the interstate.
This is not a hoax ... this is real, and it happened in Austin
yesterday (10/20). Yes, I'm sending it to friends in other cities
and states too... we all need to be aware of this. Spread widely and
quickly as many of us are planning to vote early (or have already
voted!!)

At the bottom of this message, I have attached the Travis Co.
Democratic Party contact info as it is listed on the website.

========================================================

FYI: This note came from my neighborhood net:

Yesterday a friend voted early at a polling location in Austin. She
voted straight Democratic. When she did the final check, lo and
behold every vote was for the Democratic candidates except that it
showed that she had voted for Bush/Cheney for president/vice pres.

She immediately got a poll official. On her vote, it was corrected.
She called the Travis County Democratic headquarters. They took all
her information. They told her that she wasn't the first to report a
similar incident and that they are looking into it.

So, check before you leave the polling booth, and if anything is
wrong, get it corrected immediately. Report any irregularities to
your local Democratic headquarters.

===================
The Travis County Democratic Party
Chris Elliott, Chair
Elizabeth Yevich, Executive Director

Our Office:
706 West MLK, Jr. Blvd, Suite 8
Austin, TX 78701
Our Mailing Address:
Travis County Democratic Party
P.O. Box 684263
Austin, TX 78768-4263

Telephone:
Voice: (512) 477-7500
FAX: (512) 477-7769


Email: info@TravisCountyDemocrats.org

========================================================
Here's an update:
Subject: ALERT: Explanation of Straight Demo Voting and Bush in Travis County
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 14:22:41 -0500

AUSTIN FOR CHANGE ||| WWW.AUSTINFORCHANGE.COM.

It came to our attention and to the attention of Dana DeBeauvoir, our
County Clerk, that some people had cast straight Democratic and when
proofing their ballot saw a vote marked for Bush.

To put out the rumors: This happened to one voter and was corrected
before the ballot was cast. These are not machine malfunctions.
However, human error can cause ballot errors.

START EMAILING EVERYONE TO PROOF THEIR BALLOTS TO MAKE SURE THEY DID NOT MAKE AN ERROR.

What happened in this case was human error and was not a machine
malfunction.

After pressing ENTER after marking Straight Democrat, some voters
inadvertently turn the SELECT wheel one click through the ballot
while meaning to go to the final "PROOF" page. If you hit enter at
that point, your cursor is over the first candidate on the ballot:
Bush/Cheney.

So, the answer to this problem is this:

TELL EVERYONE TO PROOF THEIR BALLOT. If there is an error, page back
and fix it and/or ask for assistance in doing so. You must fix these
things BEFORE you hit CAST BALLOT.

Glen Maxey
Coordinated Campaign Organizer