纽约时报 一张遍布缺陷的选举地图暴露了所有问题(4)

Improved technology and equipment, a major part of the response to the 2000 election, have in some instances contributed to new worries.

技术和设备的改善，对2000年选举的主要回应，有时反倒造成了新的担忧。

Some 30 states use so-called direct-recording devices, usually with electronic screens,

大约30个州都在选举中用了所谓的直接记录设备，通常带有电子屏幕，

that were initially¹ seen as an antidote² to hanging chads and other foibles resulting from archaic³ punch-card devices.

这些设备最初被视为能够解决打卡设备太过陈旧造成的“孔屑废票”等问题的一剂良药。

But some of them did not offer a paper audit⁴ trail, complicating⁵ the process of a recount, and there have been complaints about their reliability⁶.

然而，有一些设备没有留下供审计用的纸质凭证，致使重新计票环节变得更为复杂了，进而引发了人们对这些设备的可靠性的抱怨。

Some voters in Texas reported being stymied⁷ when trying to cast a party-line vote on electronic screens,

德州有选民指出，他们在电子屏幕上进行党派投票时遇到了困难，

saying the machines appeared to reverse or erase⁸ their choices;

声称那些机器好像将他们的选择理解反了，或者直接清除了他们的投票；

state officials said that the voters had mistakenly touched a button before confirming their selection and that the machines operated correctly.

该州的官员们则说，是选民们在确认投票之前错按了一个按钮，他们的机器是正常运行的。

More states have been turning to machines with a paper trail or optical scanners, which read paper ballots¹⁰ that the voter fills in with a marker.

越来越多的州转向使用带有纸质记录或光学扫描仪的机器了，这些机器能够读取选民用标记填写的纸质选票。

But voting machines are not expected to last more than 10 to 15 years.

然而，投票机的使用年限不宜超过10至15年。

Aside from software problems in some states,

部分州的选举机器存在软件问题之外，

aging machines at multiple polling places in New York City broke down, forcing voters to deposit ballots in boxes to be scanned later.

纽约市多个投票站使用的老化机器也都发生了故障，选民们便不得不将选票投入箱子等待后期扫描。

Surveying the long Election Day lines in Cobb County, Ga.,

看到佐治亚州科布县选举日当日排起的条条长龙后，

Janine Eveler, the director of the Board of Elections, described the challenges of a record turnout for a midterm election, an unusually complicated ballot⁹ and a shortage of voting machines.

选举委员会主任简宁·伊威勒说，本届中期选举的投票率要创历史新高有一定的困难，首先是投票异常复杂，其次是投票机短缺。

"It's a perfect storm," she said.

“这是一场完美的风暴，”她说。

When James White moved from Atlanta to rural Baldwin County in Georgia, he registered to vote and was given a card certifying¹¹ his eligibility¹².

詹姆斯·怀特从亚特兰大搬到佐治亚州的鲍德温县乡下时，他也进行了选民登记并拿到了一张证明其投票资格的卡片。

But when he went to the polls this month, he was turned away because his driver's license¹³ still bore an Atlanta address.

但本月去投票时他被拒之门外了，因为他的驾照仍然是亚特兰大签发的。

Aided by a Democratic Party worker, Mr. White went to the county courthouse, where he was told again that he was ineligible¹⁴ to vote.

在民主党工作人员的帮助下，怀特先生去了县法院，但再次被告知他没有资格投票。

Eventually, he won a judge's approval to cast a provisional ballot.

最终，他得到了某法官的批准，可以投临时票。

"Whether it got counted or not, I really don't know," he said.

“我的票有没有作数，我是真的不知道，”他说。

A central aim of the Help America Vote Act was to make it easier for people to cast a ballot on Election Day.

《帮助美国投票法》的一个核心目标就是让大家能够在选举日更轻松地投票。

But embedded¹⁵ in the law were requirements for voter identification and maintaining registration¹⁶ rolls,

然而，该法案也对选民身份认证和维持选民登记名单做了隐性要求，

objectives that Democrats¹⁷ say Republicans have twisted for partisan¹⁸ ends, effectively disenfranchising certain groups that lean left.

一些民主党人称该法案的目标因为党派利益被共和党人扭曲了，该法案实际上是剥夺了某些左倾团体的权利。

Georgia and 16 other states, most of them in the South, demand photo identification that low-income people and minorities disproportionately lack,

比如，格鲁吉亚和其他16个州，其中大多数都在南方，需要照片识别，而低收入人群和少数民族地区严重缺乏这一技术，

and conflicting information about addresses and dates of birth--even signature mismatches--can cost someone the ability to vote.

而地址和出生日期——甚至还有签字的字迹不匹配——相关信息的相互矛盾也可能导致选民失去投票权。

An analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found the laws inconsistently applied¹⁹,

《亚特兰大宪法报》的一项分析发现，法律没有被统一执行，

with absentee ballot rejections²⁰ in one county, Gwinnett, accounting²¹ for 37 percent of the total for the entire state in this month's election.

格威纳特县作废的缺席票就占到了该县所在的佐治亚州本月投票总数的37%。

1 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

2 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

3 archaic   

adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的

参考例句：

• The company does some things in archaic ways,such as not using computers for bookkeeping.这个公司有些做法陈旧，如记账不使用电脑。
• Shaanxi is one of the Chinese archaic civilized origins which has a long history.陕西省是中国古代文明发祥之一，有悠久的历史。

4 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

5 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

6 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

7 stymied   

n.被侵袭的v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Relief efforts have been stymied in recent weeks by armed gunmen. 最近几周的救援工作一直受到武装分子的阻挠。 来自辞典例句
• I was completely stymied by her refusal to help. 由于她拒不相助， 我完全陷入了困境。 来自互联网

8 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

9 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

10 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 certifying   

（尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书

参考例句：

• Signed Commercial in quintuplicate, certifying merchandise to be of Chinese origin. 签署商业发票一式五份，证明产品的原产地为中国。
• Other documents certifying the truthfulness of the contents of the advertisements. （三）确认广告内容真实性的其他证明文件。

12 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

13 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

14 ineligible   

adj.无资格的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The new rules have made thousands more people ineligible for legal aid.新规定使另外数千人不符合接受法律援助的资格。
• The country had been declared ineligible for World Bank lending.这个国家已被宣布没有资格获得世界银行的贷款。

15 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

16 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

17 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

19 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

20 rejections   

拒绝( rejection的名词复数 )； 摒弃； 剔除物； 排斥

参考例句：

• Most writers endure a number of rejections before being published. 大部分作家经历无数次的退稿才守得云开，作品得到发表。
• Supervise workers and monitors production quality to minimize rejections. 管理工人，监控生产质量，减少退货。

21 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。