Electronic Touch Screen Voting Machines

673 Words3 Pages
With new technologies, there will always be flaws. The electronic touch screen voting machines are not perfect, but in today's face paced society, these machines are necessary. There is a desperate need for changes in these machines, but the touch screen voting machines are definitely an improvement from previous forms of voting, such as the butterfly ballot. One instance of a way the voting process could be helped immediately would be to run things much like how Platten ran elections in Cuyahoga County. To help aid the often computer illiterate senior citizens working the polls, “Election Day technicians” were hired. Also, better organization of the memory cards was instituted. Also, an automated calling system was set into place so those who promised to volunteer at the polls would be reminded. Because of these tweeks, elections ran smoother and had more public faith and support. A look into the machine's mechanics is not enough. Many critics of touch screen voting machines say that the testing done on these machines are not nearly as in depth as needed. Lillie Coney, an associate director with the Electronic Privacy Information Commission says that many of the errors found in these machines would be caught “in a first-year computer science course”. Yet, it is not mandatory to test these machines, so any testing will cost money. However, it is money that needs to be spent. There are also easily avoidable malfunctions. One of these malfunctions is when voters do not check to see if their paper ballot matches their digital ballot. If a record of these accounts are kept, it might help to design some sort of software patch for the voting machines. Voters must always remain anonymous, so it is impossible for officials to verify with someone their vote in case of a digital memory or paper trail discrepancy. However, it is easy for employees to remind voters to
Open Document