Reply #6: TX: Paper trails and tribulations [View All]

[MelissaB]

Paper trails and tribulations
Electronic voting backups no panacea

By BEVERLY KAUFMAN


A vocal minority continues to call for a "voter verifiable paper trail" to be used in conjunction with Harris County's electronic voting system. The simple fact is that without a clear statutory framework, the expenditure of public dollars for this effort would be a misuse of funds and create a tremendous problem during a post-election review of the conduct of an election.

Twenty-seven states have mandated the use of such a paper trail with their electronic voting systems, but only half of these states have incorporated this paper trail as a reflection of voter intent for use in an election recount. Understanding that critics of electronic voting systems mean well, it is important to dispel a number of falsehoods that continue to be espoused.

The evolution of voting systems has revealed that a shortsighted approach may easily create unintended consequences. For those jurisdictions around the nation that have incorporated this voter verifiable paper trail, problems with printers have compounded the difficulties with conducting elections. In addition, these printer problems can often result in overprinting of ballots in one section of the audit trail, thereby negating the very intent and use of this voter verifiable paper trail.

For voters who are unfamiliar with this ongoing discussion on the use of electronic voting systems, it is important to understand that elections are not performed in a static environment.


More: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4127469.html