Elkhart Indiana getting new voting machines with paper trails.

[bearsfootball516]

GOSHEN — New voting machines for every precinct in Elkhart County could be delivered as soon as next week, the Elkhart County Commissioners learned Monday.

The commissioners passed a resolution supporting the purchase of 300 vote tabulators from Election Systems and Software, which the Elkhart County Election board approved at a recent meeting of its own. The Elkhart County Council expressed support for the $1.7 million purchase Saturday, after hearing that there could be a “cash discount” if the county could provide all the money upfront.

The hybrid touchscreen and paper system will meet new state standards expected in the coming years, which would mandate having a paper trail to make hand recounts possible, according to Clerk of the Circuit Court Chris Anderson. He said he wants to have the new machines in place before May so the county can use them in the primary and general elections this year and know what to expect in time for the 2020 presidential election.

https://www.elkharttruth.com/news/new-voting-machines-on-fast-track/article_d205ce3c-a47f-5fa8-9e77-53bed2694cb7.html

I was unaware that it's likely Indiana will pass measures sometime soon that mandate voting machines have a paper trail.

[pandr32]

1. Encouraging

May other states follow up their lead.

[Midnightwalk]

2. Why have an electronic component?

We still use paper ballots with “fill in the bubble with felt tip pen”. At one point they you put them through a scanner and the ballot was kept. Recent elections you just out the ballot in a box.

Paper ballot with a local scanned count that can be cross verified with a central count seems to me to be the most secure. The local scan could also reject an improperly filled out ballot allowing for correction

What’s the advantage of electronic ballots that produce a paper copy? That seems to leave vulnerabilities in the recording of the vote or in the production of the paper record.

I suppose you could present the voter with the paper record for review and have the voter then submit it which would be better than producing a paper record separate than a paper receipt which might not match.

Paper record is better than no physical record but I’m not seeing the advantage of electronic voting.

I can’t find anything online about why paper ballots are better or worse than electronic. Any ideas or pointers?