the film
forum
library
tutorial
contact
Commentaries and editorials

Washington Quarter Poll Resumes
after Computer Mischief

by Curt Woodward, Associated Press
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 11, 2006

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- An online poll to help choose the design of Washington's state quarter resumed Tuesday, after robotic computer programs stacked the vote and forced technicians to suspend polling.

The opinion poll was launched last Thursday, but officials stopped the tally after some computer users issued repeated votes from single Internet addresses, swelling the count past 1 million votes.

The earlier online results and an up-to-the-minute vote tally were abandoned in the new version of the poll.

Computer users attempting to cast a second vote were greeted with a message thanking them for their earlier participation.

The State Quarter Advisory Commission assumes some technical minds will figure out ways to cast more than one ballot, but they'll be watching for large groups of repeat voters, spokesman Mark Gerth said.

"We'll be doing a number of different things to make sure the automated voting isn't counted in this next tally," Gerth said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has the final say over which of the three final choices will grace the back of the quarter. She is expected to make a decision next month.

The choices are:

Finalist design for Washington State quarter Finalist design for Washington State quarter Finalist design for Washington State quarter

Related Pages:
Finalists Selected for State Quarter Design by Susan Gilmore, Seattle Times, 1/19/6
Wildlife, Apples, Mountains: Finalists for WA Quarter by Curt Woodward, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1/19/6
It's the Final Stretch for Idaho's Quarter Design by Tim Woodward, Idaho Statesman, 9/27/5
Governor: Here's what shouldn't be on our quarter by Tim Woodward, Idaho Statesman, 8/4/5

Related Sites:
State quarter: www.governor.wa.gov/quarter
U.S. Mint: www.usmint.gov


Curt Woodward, Associated Press
Washington Quarter Poll Resumes after Computer Mischief
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 10, 2006

See what you can learn

learn more on topics covered in the film
see the video
read the script
learn the songs
discussion forum
salmon animation