Several early voters in Greene County said Thursday that when they touched the on-screen button on a voting machine at the county Election Commission office to vote for Republican John McCain for president, the button for Democrat Barack Obama lit up instead.

The problem came to light during a McCain-Palin barbecue Thursday evening at the Crescent building here, after county GOP Chairman Robert Foster read a letter from state Republican Chairman Robin Smith about apparently-similar problems in Decatur County.

Smith's letter, sent to party officials via e-mail on Wednesday, said "a voting machine calibration and ballot layout" in Decatur County "has presented an authentic integrity issue regarding votes cast," and urged vigilance on the part of poll-watchers.

The state party chairman's letter said officials in Decatur County had called in technicians, who "confirmed the issue as legitimate but offered no immediate solution."

Based on the letter, Foster urged the more than 200 people at the barbecue to "be very careful" in voting.

He emphasized that, before pushing the on-screen button on the touch-screen voting machine to make their votes final, they should be careful to review their choices, using the screen on the voting machine that comes up so that each voter can review his or her selections before finalizing the votes.

After several candidates or their representatives had spoken at the meeting about various topics, Foster came back to the microphone and said he had just learned that several Greene Countians have experienced similar problems while voting here.

Foster then called to the microphone Glenn Broyles, a former state legislator, former county school board chairman, and former GOP chairman.

Broyles told the crowd that a friend, Charlie Worley, had told him over lunch on Thursday about having problems voting for McCain, so he (Broyles) went to the Election Commission office prepared to be especially careful when he himself voted that afternoon.

Broyles said Worley told him that he (Worley) had had to push the McCain button three separate times before it would register for McCain instead of Obama.

Worley also told Broyles that Election Commission workers told him that he might have had his finger on the line at the edge of the button, instead of in the middle of the button.

"Anyway, I made it a point, when I pushed that button (for McCain), not to push anything" except the center, Broyles said.

When he pushed the center of the button, "I got Obama," Broyles said. "I [pushed the McCain button] three times before I got McCain. My point is, be real careful when using that machine."

The Greeneville Sun interviewed Broyles after the meeting. During that interview, former Tusculum Mayor Robert K. Bird, overhearing the conversation, said he had had the same experience while early-voting earlier this month.

"I brought it to the helper's attention," Bird said, telling her, 'I pushed McCain, and Obama lit up.'

"She told me to push the Obama button" to make that button go dark, he said, and he did that.

Bird said he then tried again to push the McCain button, but the Obama button lit up again. He repeated the process, and on the third try, the McCain button stayed lit.

"On the third time, it worked," Bird said, and the review screen several pages later also showed that he was voting for McCain.

Bird speculated that someone unfamiliar with the process, or afraid to ask questions, or not forewarned, might overlook a mis-cast vote. Broyles agreed that this could easily happen.

Glenn Broyles said he learned later that County Mayor Alan Broyles' office had fielded calls from others who had the same problem trying to vote for McCain.

A Greeneville Sun reporter voted early this morning, after attending the meeting Thursday night. The reporter had no problem making the John McCain button light up on the first try.

The reporter repeated the process several times, turning off the McCain button by touching it again, and then touching the button again, as close to the line at the top as possible. The Obama button is located just above the McCain button.

In all but one instance, the McCain button lit up when the reporter pushed it. But in one instance, the Obama button lit up when the McCain button was pushed as close to the edge of the McCain line as the reporter could manage.

The Obama button also lit up when the reporter's relatively short fingernail extended outside the McCain button, but did not touch the Obama button.

Administrator of Elections Jo Roberts told the Sun that no one has complained to her in this early-voting cycle about the problems mentioned at the Republican meeting, although they may have spoken to machine operators.

In past elections, Roberts said, she has been aware of voters who had very long fingernails having problems. Those problems were solved by asking the voters to place their fingers "sideways" on the button, she said.

Roberts said that, when she notices a voter with unusually long fingernails, she advises them that sideways placement may be a good idea.

She pointed out that voters mostly need to be sure to watch and make certain that the entire line listing the electors supporting the candidate for whom they want to vote lights up.

If the wrong line lights up, voters can touch that line, causing it to go dark, and push the button of their choice again, she said.

If a voter omits the review step and walks away from the machine, a buzzer sounds, and poll workers ask the voter to return to the machine, Roberts said.

She said that if voters who have had the problem will show her which machine at the Election Commission office they used, she will ask technicians to recalibrate it.

Contacted this morning and told of Roberts' offer to have the machine recalibrated, Broyles said he would consider telling her.

Bird, contacted separately, said he would be glad to go to the Election Commission office and point out the machine that gave him problems.