THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PAPER TRAILS AND PAPER BALLOTS

[From a letter to Congress from election integrity activists]

Paper trails and paper records are not sufficient to safeguard elections
and restore confidence among the electorate. Unless there is a paper
ballot for every vote cast, three fundamental principles of democratic
elections are violated:

1. Observable tallies. It is impossible for citizens to observe the
counting of electronic ballots and audit the results.

2. Equal access. Requiring voters to cast votes on computers
discriminates against those who are not familiar with the technology.

3. Accurate results. It is impossible to ensure that the reported
results are accurate. In fact, a voter-verifiable paper audit trail
cannot be depended on to provide the certainty lacking in electronic
tallies. Clear evidence from several recent elections reveals instances
in which:

- The electronic screen record did not reflect the voter's intent.

- The electronic count did not match the paper trail produced by the
e-voting machine.

- The summary review screen did not match the paper trail produced by
the e-voting machine.

- Voters did not know to verify the paper trail or were prevented from
doing so by improper design, incorrect setup, or malfunction of the
printer.

- Computer systems introduced unnecessary complexity into the entire
election process and therefore increased the likelihood of errors by
voters, poll workers, and election officials.

- Computerized voting relinquished control of the final outcome to the
technical skills of those who programed the software.

While it is not easy to reconcile the money already spent on new DRE
systems, it would be worse to continue using election equipment that is
not accomplishing its critical task. If this were a public safety
matter, no one would question the ban on the continued use of a
dangerous product, even if it had been funded by billions of public
dollars. Why should we act any differently when it comes to protecting
the safety of our electoral process?

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/Campaigns/PaperBallots/

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