I'll concede that I do trust the electronic voting system put in place by my county, even though there is no paper trail. That said, I will also tell you that I preferred (and urged the adoption of) an optical scanner system similar to what my students use to take multiple choice tests at my school.

Why?

Because I knew it would eventually come to this.

Lawmakers have come full circle after devoting more money to high-tech voting machines following the 2000 election debacle in Florida. They now say a return to the paper trails of old is the key to an honest vote, exasperating state election officials.

Legislation pending in the House would require a voter-verified paper ballot for every vote cast in national elections beginning with the November 2008 ballot. It also would require random audits in federal elections and specifies that the paper ballot is the vote of record in all recounts and audits.

Public confidence in the voting process is at an all-time low, said Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., the bill's chief sponsor. "I shudder to think what would happen with another election where millions of Americans don't believe the results," Holt said.

Of course, the reality is that many of those "millions of Americans [who] don't believe the results" are the same folks who believe that the US government blew up the World Trade Center and Pentagon and that George Bush is a fascist planning a military coup so he can set up concentration camps to liquidate Muslims and liberals. What they need is not a paper trail at election time, but greater access to mental health care.

But I think a paper trail is important. We've all lost data and had computer glitches. thre should be something. But it should come at the beginning of the process, not at the end with a receipt-style printout. heck, another easy solution would be to use computer punch-cards -- but of course, the attempted vote-fraud and election theft by Florida Democrats in 2000 show that even that reliable, rational system is subject to failure in the hands of the unscrupulous away from the eyes of a vigilant public.

Posted by: Greg at 10:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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