Today, Governor Phil Bredesen signed a new law requiring that counties adopt new voting machines that create a paper trail in case a need arises for a recount or audit. As of now, only two counties out of 95 produce so-called "paper trails."
In the wake of the 2000 election fiasco, the country rushed to buy new electronic voting machines that would making voting "easier." No one bothered to consider the security implications with such equipment; America (or should I really say Congress) wanted the old machines replaced as soon as possible. Electronic voting machines, indeed, are easy to use. The only problem, however is that these machines can be easily manipulated without anyone ever knowing. There are no papers to tell election officials how each ballot was cast. This opened the door wide for potential fraud.
This law, hopefully, will create assurance in terms of voting results in Tennessee. It will be much more difficult for a candidate or party to manipulate the results of an election. A mandated paper trail will help ensure a secure and fair election. Hopefully, other states will follow.
Here is what the Electronic Frontier Foundation has to say about electronic voting machines.
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