The Bucks County League of Women Voters has issued its recommendation for voting machines. They support a system in which the voter marks a paper ballot. The ballot is then inserted into an electronic optical scanner. After the scanner reads the ballot, it drops into a secure box. The paper ballots are available if a recount is needed.
When I moved back to Pennsylvania I learned very quickly not to say, “That’s not the way we did it in California.” It made people angry. I will now break that rule. I was an election official in Marin County, and we used the paper ballot/optical scanner system already in the 1990s. Voters filled in ovals, just like you would in a multiple choice quiz. It was impossible to hack the paper ballots. I don’t understand why it takes Pennsylvania so long to adopt a fool-proof system, but I congratulate the Bucks League of Women Voters for their diligence. I hope officials listen.
An added note: Happy Cinco de Mayo! And if you are Pennsylvanian and wonder just when that holiday occurs, it is on the 5th of May.
We have that system in Illinois. Have had it for well over twenty years. Works great. If you vote early that is computerized voting. However it does print your vote which you can review. So there is a paper trail.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what is wrong with Pennsylvania.
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