Early e-voting results in vote flipping in three states so far, and what you can do.

Martinsburg man says machine switched Democratic vote to Republican 5 times ... Roger Belozier, a veteran and retired postal worker from Berkeley County, experienced problems with electronic voting machines when he went to vote early in the Martinsburg courthouse.

"I reviewed my vote to make sure it was a straight Democratic ticket. But it switched my vote to Republican candidates five different times. I was able to cancel out the Republican votes.

"But I am scratching my head. Why did the machine switch my votes five different times? I asked someone to come over and explain it to me," Belozier said on Wednesday. "I am concerned about a lot of people who might not notice or people who might be intimidated. They have to raise their hands and ask for some help."

Tracy Lopez had the same problem when she went to vote in Martinsburg with her husband last week, according to a message she posted on a political Web site supporting Obama.

"When I pressed 'Barack Obama,' it checked off 'John McCain,' " Lopez wrote. "I de-selected, and instead of taking any chances, I chose straight Democratic ticket rather than go through the whole thing and have any mistakes."

Lopez, who declined to be interviewed personally, thought, "Maybe I had just been clumsy. But my husband confirmed that he had the same exact thing happen to him. He was on a different voting machine, voting at the same time I was."

...Secretary of State Betty Ireland held a press conference on Wednesday to "discuss recent reports of purported problems regarding touch- screen voting machines." Ireland vigorously defended iVotronic voting machines made by Election Systems & Software from Omaha, Neb. After some individuals reported voting problems, Ireland contacted county clerks and "advised them to examine their machines" and to recalibrate them if necessary.... - sgm

How about this: fire Secretary of State Betty Ireland and throw these machines in the garbage heap where they belong. Recalibrate my butt. What she means by "recalibrate" is make the vote flip fraud not show up to the voting individual, which is easily done with proprietary software. An electronic vote is a vote thrown away.

I noted in passing last week that West Virginia has had the distinct honor of being the first state in the union to report problems (surprise! surprise!) with its electronic voting systems. There are now also reports that similar problems have been happening in Tennessee and Texas as well. No doubt these won't be the last.

So what exactly has happened? Largely, the problem has been what's been dubbed "vote flipping" or "vote switching" -- which is exactly what it sounds like. According to a report by my buddy Scott Finn over at West Virginia Public Broadcasting from late last week:

Voters in at least two West Virginia counties -- Jackson and Putnam -- say electronic voting machines are switching their votes from Democrats to Republicans.

The two county clerks, both Republicans, say they don't think there's a problem. But these voting problems have gotten the attention of everyone from CNN to liberal website The Huffington Post.

So far, eight voters from Jackson and Putnam counties have come forward to say their electronic voting machines kept changing their votes from Democrats to Republicans -- usually, from Obama to McCain.

Wired News also reports that Ohio and Berkeley counties have been having similar problems.

It appears that some of the problems have to do with the fact that the software is simply faulty, and requires "recalibration" by voting officials.

According to an account in the Decatur County Chronicle:

"The way the machine is set up, when you are standing in front of it and seeing it at a certain angle, it looks like you are touching the middle (of the button) when you are actually touching the line above it," Box said.

[Election Commissioner Rick Box] and fellow Election Commissioner Grafton Dodd tested the machines on Monday. Dodd could not be reached for comment but Box said he found the area of the screen where the buttons for President are located are extremely close together. He blames the problem in part on poor design by software programmers, and adds that there may be sensitivity issues with the screen itself.

In other words, it's the voter's fault. ... - salon

This should piss you off, but there are things you can still do to protect the vote. Get involved in your area (or go document the results in a place you suspect will have vote fraud). Here are some tips from blackboxvoting.org.