Palm Beach County Forced To Restart Recount After Ballot Machines Overheated And Gave False Totals

The Miami Herald reports:

Palm Beach County’s race to recount votes is heating up — literally. The county’s decade-old ballot-counting machines overheated and gave incorrect totals, forcing the county to restart its recount of about 175,000 early votes, supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher said Tuesday night. The department has flown in mechanics to repair the machines.

“We’re disappointed by the mechanical problems that are going to cause a further delay in the recount,” Bucher told reporters. “It became evident through the vigorous pace of counting that the machines used for the recount were starting to get stressed.” The malfunctions resulted in the loss of more than a day’s work.

The case for deadline extension in Palm Beach County was moved to federal court Tuesday, following a motion by attorneys for Secretary of State Ken Detzner. Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers said she would grant an extension until Nov. 20, after she concluded the county could not possibly meet the deadline with its eight machines. But Detzner’s attorneys filed the motion to move the case before she could issue a written order.

Voting machines in Florida’s Palm Beach County have broken down due to overheating, causing the loss of more than a day’s work and forcing another recount of around 175,000 early votes https://t.co/PlopcYUyVv

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) November 14, 2018