Reply #44: Strong paper trails needed

[dzika]

Article Last Updated: Friday, December 24, 2004 - 9:57:34 AM PST

Strong paper trails needed

By THOMAS D. ELIAS | The Ukiah Daily Journal (CA)

Lawsuits and recount demands have piled up in Ohio and Florida ever since the November election. They charge everything from targeted disenfranchising of minority voters to computer hacking to denying voters enough time for mailing in absentee ballots.

What does all this have to do with California, where elections went off without many hitches everywhere but in San Diego, scene of a strong mayoral write-in campaign that bollixed up the counting process and delayed results for weeks?

Simply this: All the problems in those other states easily could have happened here and might have if California's presidential vote had been more closely contested. That's because machines just like those questioned in other states also are in use here. This reality solidly reinforces the need for a new law passed last fall which will require paper trails from every electronic voting machine in the state starting with the June 2006 primary election.

The new law angers some local officials, who would rather save a few dollars than offer voters a guarantee that results are completely accurate.


Link:
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/Stories/0,1413,91~3080~2617235,00.html