CNET: Does e-voting need paper trails?

[brooklynite]

After reports of a rocky primary election this year, Maryland's Republican governor turned heads even outside the Old Line State when he called for a return to all-paper ballots.

"When in doubt, go paper, go low-tech," said Gov. Robert Ehrlich, according to various press reports, one week after polls closed in mid-September.

His 11th-hour suggestion has garnered little support so far from elections administrators. Come Nov. 7, Maryland and 16 other states are expected to forge ahead with a certain breed of computerized machine that does not include what amounts to a receipt, or a voter-verified paper audit trail, according to research compiled by the nonprofit Election Reform Information Project.

All told, 37 states and 39 percent of the voting population are expected to use voting equipment known as a direct-recording electronic (DRE) system, either with or without a paper trail, according to the advocacy group Common Cause, which describes itself as a proponent of "open and accountable" government.

With endorsements for the paper-trail technique piled on by influential election reform advocates and even an ever-skeptical crowd of computer science academics, what's the hold-up?

The answer lies in a complex mix of politics, money and available options on the market, election office representatives and their critics say.

http://news.com.com/Does+e-voting+need+paper+trails/2100-1028_3-6130946.html

[bemildred]

1. Wrong question. E-voting is a stupid idea in the first place.

Like E-books, it is a misuse of technology. Some things are better left un-computerized.