Why No Paper Trail?
I voted in Maryland on Tuesday, in a suburb of Washington, DC. We used the electronic touch screen voting machines. The experience went smoothly, was straightforward and pleasant enough. But when I got to the end of voting I hit the button that tells me to submit my ballot. After doing that, I expected the machine to print out a record of my votes. But nothing was printed. That was it. I walked away, asked a poll worker if there was anything else I was to do and he said, “nope, that’s all.” As I sit after midnight watching the election results roll in, here is something I simply do not understand: Why do the electronic touch screen machines not print out a paper record of votes? As I type this, the networks have called the Maryland Senate race for Ben Cardin (D) over Michael Steele (R). But the Washington Post, which had called the race for Cardin, has now withdrawn its call. Moreover, Steele is not conceding. This race is very close and, even though the polls have been closed in Maryl
