Rep. Rush Holt today responded to the growing chorus of concern from election reform specialists and computer security experts about the integrity of future elections by introducing reform legislation, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003. The measure would require all voting machines to produce an actual paper record by 2004 that voters can view to check the accuracy of their votes and that election officials can use to verify votes in the event of a computer malfunction, hacking, or other irregularity. Experts often refer to this paper record as a “voter-verified paper trail.”

The above photo is from a May 9, 2003 Wired article, and is of a prototype machine cobbled together by voting machine manufacturer ES&S. After the voter makes selections on the touch screen, a paper ballot is printed and appears behind the vertical clear plastic window that is behind the touch screen device. The voter has an opportunity to verify that the paper ballot reflects the intended vote.

In order for the U.S. to continue as a democracy, it is critical that votes be human-verifiable, so that any election may be independently verifiable by any group of people. Otherwise, he who owns the machines owns the vote. Unfortunately, the 2000 Florida fiasco is being used as a ruse to go toward touchscreen only by blaming paper. Avoiding paper would just be sweeping the problem under the rug and facilitate easier theft of elections. The answer is a stronger paper trail -- one that can be verified by both the voter and the independent vote counter.

See also the Feb. 28, 2003 UnderReported.com story Finally, the truth about electronic voting comes out.