WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney’s online voter-turnout operation suffered a meltdown on Election Day, resulting in a crucial 90-minute “buckling” of the system in Boston and the inability of some campaign workers across the country to use a vital smartphone program, according to campaign officials and volunteers.
Code-named ORCA, the program was kept secret until just before the election in order to prevent hacking of the system. It was then trumpeted by Romney’s aides as an unrivaled high-tech means of communicating with more than 30,000 field workers who were stationed at polling places on Election Day. Those volunteers were supposed to track who voted and to alert Boston headquarters if turnout was lower than expected at key precincts.
Comments
If you believe this story as laid out by the Romney campaign you should have also believed their internal polls. You see I was a poll watcher for Elizabeth Warren. The system for recording who voted on our known voters could be recorded either way, by hand or smart phone. What was important is getting the unique voter number to the central calling office so the list could be properly streamlined. However it is impossible to hear who everybody is since poll watchers have to stay a certain distance away. We also stopped at 4pm so all could concentrate on making critical phone calls from the list as it existed. It was more important to make contact even if there were an overage of those who had already voted. This summary is here because it shows the poor governence we could expect from Romney. No back up plan and no properly instructed campaign workers. It was not technology that sunk Mr. Romney. It was the inadequacy of his ability to organize an effective campaign. It is with great pride that I had a front row seat to see what a cooperative, motivated, intelligent group of people, not machines, could accomplish.
If you believe this story as laid out by the Romney campaign you should have also believed their internal polls. You see I was a poll watcher for Elizabeth Warren. The system for recording who voted on our known voters could be recorded either way, by hand or smart phone. What was important is getting the unique voter number to the central calling office so the list could be properly streamlined. However it is impossible to hear who everybody is since poll watchers have to stay a certain distance away. We also stopped at 4pm so all could concentrate on making critical phone calls from the list as it existed. It was more important to make contact even if there were an overage of those who had already voted. This summary is here because it shows the poor governence we could expect from Romney. No back up plan and no properly instructed campaign workers. It was not technology that sunk Mr. Romney. It was the inadequacy of his ability to organize an effective campaign. It is with great pride that I had a front row seat to see what a cooperative, motivated, intelligent group of people, not machines, could accomplish.
Who would have thought that community organizing could be important?
to occasionalwriter: it seems that community organizing is the definition of gettng out the vote.
Sure, Mitt. That was it. Technology. It wasn't that you showed no plan, a miserable history, and spent the campaign being a complete jerk. Please run again. Please. We love running against Mitt. Plastic Mitt. Ingratiating Mitt. Smarmy Mitt. Condescendant Mitt. Run again. Please.
This comment has been removed.
Republican incompetence at its finest. Heckuva job, Brownie!
Shocking! Wasn't Governor Romney running largely on the basis of his managerial know-how and laser-like task orientation? Oops!
The "System" literally didn't work - it was a "catastrophic failure."
The whole concept, whether it's Romney's incompetent version, Warren's more functional one, or Obama's, sounds entirely too intrusive to the ears of an average voter. Glad Romney's system tanked. Wish the others would tank. Perhaps if this strategy continues to get media coverage it will prompt a public examination and conversation about the implications of this type of intrusion into the voting process.
Poll watching and monitoring has been going on for decades, and likely invisible to you. It's only recently that it has begun to go high tech. Poll watching is a tried and true method for candidates of all stripes to ensure that their supporters are actually turning out to vote for their candidate. It is rarely intrusive, and again, you probably didn't even know it was occurring until you read this article and these comments.
It must have been "God's will." (It's been reported that the Romneys were seen driving into that well-known vacation spot in Belmont - McLean Hospital, on Thursday!)
This comment has been removed.
I guess the businessman was not as prepared as he led some people to believe.
This comment has been removed.
Once again, the techies failed to follow Steve Jobs advice: SIMPLIFY. Instead they fall into the trap of
"More is Better Than Less". Of course, many are consultants who bill by the hour for their "Grand Design". What kind of incentive for efficiency is that ?
So this probably explains why Karl Rove (and to some degree, Romney) apparently found it impossible to believe that Obama had been re-elected?