As recently as October of 2004, the first voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) printer was qualified for use on Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines used in this country. These printers came about due to the insistence of the voters that there be a means of auditing elections. However, even in that short time, we have found that the printers often do not work as we expected them to. The printers have proven to be a placebo rather than a reliable tool. In fact the printers fail as often as the DREs they are mounted on and because of those failures they cannot be relied upon to produce ballot printouts to be used for audits.
It is clear that VVPAT printers don’t serve their purpose. Why were there problems in Cuyahoga Co.? Why didn’t the voters notice that their votes were not being recorded on the VVPAT’s? That’s the problem. Voters tend not to look at the VVPAT tapes for a number of reasons. A new, improved VVPAT printer will be no different and if the voter doesn’t verify the paper audit trail the paper audit trail may be worthless. The answer is to use only voter marked paper ballots and ban the use of electronically marked electronic ballots that unverifiable because no one can review internal data inside a computer.
Note: There are many handy items that you can use to learn more about the danger of DRE voting machines and why they should be banned here: http://www.votersunite.o...11AmendmentResources.asp
Links to many more voting stories from today follow below...
Additional primary, changes to voting machines could mean more work, increased costs LINK
Paper trail for Florida's election process shouldn't be a partisan issue LINK
Election board chief violated policy, according to Brunner LINK
Election board chief violated policy, according to Brunner LINK
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