Georgia News2-Paper Trail for Votes

This article details a proposal in Georgia calling for a "receipt" that voters can view after partaking in touch screen voting. After a voter makes his choices, a paper receipt will be printed and will come out under a glass screen, allowing the voter to see his choices and verify if they are correct. If correct, the voter presses a button to confirm this and the receipt disappears to be kept for records if the need arises for a recount. The call for this security measure arises from the concerns of "computer security experts" that the machines used for e-voting can be tampered with, thus affecting voting outcomes. Many voters were also concerned that they had no proof that their votes were being tallied in the right manner. Governor Sonny Perdue, along with other state leaders, has endorsed this proposal. Many also oppose this new system, however, citing past voting fraud problems involving paper. This issue has much relevance to the 2000 presidential election debacle, involving suspicious voting methods and countless recounts. While this method seems somewhat reliable, it is not without its flaws, as the paper records could still be tampered with, leading to the possibility of more fraud. A more reliable method mentioned in the article suggested counting the paper receipts as official tallies. Each method mentioned, while reliable in its own right, is still open to some form of voter fraud, as many methods of voting, old and new, are.

Link: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0905/21papervote.html