North Carolina residents wait in a line to get into the Charlotte Mecklenburg University City Library to early vote on October 24, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Getty)
A Georgia voter told an Atlanta newspaper that an electronic voting machine changed his vote from Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump two times.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the voting machine – used by 20 other people that day – was removed from service after the newspaper exposed the allegations.
However, the newspaper reported that, while the Georgia Secretary of State has opened an investigation, the top legal counsel there, David B. Dove said: “We are confident that machines are not ‘flipping’ voters,” blaming the malfunction instead on the county not properly conducting “logic and accuracy testing on this unit.”
Jimmy Burnsed, chairman of the Bryan County Commission, told Savannah Now that the machine worked this way: “You touch the button and the X goes in the box. Apparently this person did that and they saw the X in the wrong box. So they did it again and it still went in the wrong box.” He told the Savannah news site that the machine was the only one with problems.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton arrives on stage for a rally at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, October 23, 2016, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Getty)
The Georgia allegations come amidst similar vote flipping concerns in Texas, Nevada, and North Carolina. Early voting has caused long lines in many states, including in Georgia, an influx that is showing signs of strength for Clinton in some key states. In Georgia, the polls are also tightening in Clinton’s favor, although Trump still leads in polling averages, and the state is considered a battleground state.
It’s not only Clinton votes that people are alleging were switched.
Donald Trump highlighted the Texas vote flipping allegations on Twitter because voters there claimed machines flipped their votes from Trump to Clinton. NBC said five machines were taken out of service as a result of those complaints, but that investigators weren’t able to reproduce the problems, which NBC said are more likely the result of voter error or outdated voting machines, not voter fraud or “rigging.”
A lot of call-ins about vote flipping at the voting booths in Texas. People are not happy. BIG lines. What is going on?
Time Magazine said some machines predate the iPad, and voters may not be used to how they work. Roll Call said vote flipping claims have also surfaced in Nevada.
In North Carolina, said NPR, the NAACP complained to state officials after voters “complained that machines had flipped votes in five counties.” Voters fixed the errors and voted for the right person before casting their ballots, NPR said.
