Reply #21: Study a boost for paper ballots [View All]

[FogerRox]

Study a boost for paper ballots
Report casts doubt on voting machines
09/29/05
By KAUKAB JHUMRA SMITH
Capital News Service




A federal election reform committee, headed by former President Carter, recommends that voting machines issue a paper ballot.

Maryland advocates of paper records for electronic voting machines are renewing their cause after a report last week from a panel headed by former President Carter recommended that the machines issue paper ballot records to alleviate security issues.

Critics of the Maryland State Board of Elections were buoyed by federal election reform recommendations released this week by the Carter-Baker commission - named for its leaders, Carter, and former Secretary of State James Baker III - and by the unexpected softening of two former opponents toward voter-verified paper records.

"Voting machines must be both accessible and transparent," the report said, adding that direct recording electronic machines, of the kind Maryland - and Howard County - uses, usually don't allow voters to check if their ballot was recorded correctly. Some can't be used for an independent recount, it said.

The Carter-Baker report will affect Howard County's voting systems only if Maryland officials decide to change statewide policy, said Betty Nordaas, Director of the Howard County Board of Elections.

Rest of article--
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=573&NewsID=664242&CategoryID=742&show=localnews&om=1