"Economic Choices 2008" - Paper Vs. Electronic
Monday, November 03, 2008
SUSIE GHARIB: At one time they were undisputed front runners, a sure bet for Election Day victory. We're not talking about candidates. We're talking about those electronic voting machines many of you will use tomorrow. But it maybe the last time you will use them. Darren Gersh continues our economic choices coverage with a look at how hopes for big dollars in the voting booth ended up losing the race.
~snip~
ROKEY SULEMAN, GENERAL REGISTRAR, FAIRFAX COUNTY: The process to get a machine certified through the Federal government and then down through the state government is very long and burdensome. So there's not a lot of development time to get this equipment out. And then by the time it goes through the government channels, there's not enough market to sell the machines. So I think the companies gave up on electronic voting at the same time.
GERSH: Virginia isn't the only state going back to paper.
After three decades of steady growth, 10 million fewer ballots will be cast using electronic voting equipment this election. And nationwide, six out of 10 counties will be using optical scan systems to count paper ballots tomorrow. Doug Chapin cautions counties are trading one imperfect system for another.CHAPIN:
Things can go wrong regardless of whether you're using a touch screen machine or a paper ballot or an optical scan ballot. There are just different things that can go wrong.~snip~
http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/onair/transcripts/081103b