* From the Weekly Standard…

Two Illinois voters say their attempts to vote early for Republicans on an electronic voting machine were registered as votes for Democrats—and they say have the video evidence to prove it.

* The video is starting to go viral…

But scroll down through the hype and you get to this…

Eventually, both voters were able to vote for the Republican candidates, as they say they preferred. They said the screen appeared to be poorly calibrated, so that while pressing anywhere in the box for a Democrat registered a vote for the Democrat, only pressing the bottom half of the Republican box did so for the Republican. The only way to make the correct vote, they said, was to press the incorrectly checked box to “uncheck” it, then press low in the Republican’s box. The voters say they were able to figure this out without calling over an election judge for help.

If you watch the video again, you can see that the person pressed right on the line dividing the two candidates. And they figured it out without assistance.

* More…

Jon Schweppe, a spokesman for the Schilling campaign, says he called an official on the Illinois state board of elections on Friday afternoon about the voters’ complaints.

“I spoke with Bruce Brown at the Illinois State Board of Elections,” Schweppe says. “He called me back about an hour later after speaking with the Rock Island County Clerk’s office. He told me he suggested a full recalibration to fix the problem. He said it was a common problem and easy to fix.”

This really needs to be addressed by the State Board of Elections. Calibrations errors are easily overcome, but why are the machines going out of calibration in the first place? Shouldn’t there be regular testing throughout each day of voting if this is a problem?

* Also, a judge ruled against the GOP about another issue in the county…

Rock Island County Clerk Karen Kinney addressed concerns about her handling of absentee ballots after a judge ruled in her favor Monday.

Kinney’s office has been the target of a Republican Party attack that not only is she opening ballots early and counting them but that her voting machines are calibrated in such a way that switches votes from Republican to Democrat.

Rock Island County Circuit Judge Lori Lefstein denied the GOP’s emergency injunction on the counting of absentee ballots.

“There is nothing wrong in this office,” Kinney, a Democrat, said afterward.

Keep in mind that the county clerk is facing reelection, and the unions have been pushing early voting very hard in RICO, so a bit of misdirection and over-playing of relatively minor problems is to be expected, like this press release from the IL GOP…

ILGOP Demands Action After Vote-Switching Video Surfaces

In wake of shocking vote-switching video in Rock Island County, ILGOP demands clerk stop pretending voting machines are calibrated correctly

Schneider: “The Illinois Republican Party will take any and all necessary legal action to ensure that every single voter’s voice is heard.”

Rock Island, IL – The Illinois Republican Party expressed shock and outrage over a video that surfaced today showing voting machines in Rock Island County calibrated to switch votes from Republican to Democrat.

The Rock Island County Clerk had previously dismissed multiple complaints of vote-switching as false and has yet to address a plan to fix her voting machines following the incident captured in the video.

“Earlier this week, we expressed deep concerns over reports of early voting machines in Rock Island County calibrated in a way that switches people’s votes from Republican to Democrat – similar to recent reports out of Cook County,” ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider said. “The Rock Island Clerk ignored our concerns and claimed no problem existed. Following today’s shocking video, we renew our call on the Rock Island Clerk to immediately investigate the calibration of voting machines in the county. The Illinois Republican Party will take any and all necessary legal action to ensure that every single voter’s voice is heard.”

Despite the over-heated rhetoric, it can’t be said enough that if these machines have screen calibration problems then local officials need to make sure they’re tested throughout the day.