Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are slowing their drive to revamp the nation’s voting systems, aides said yesterday.
Under pressure from state and local officials, as well as from lobbyists for the disabled, House leaders now advocate putting off the most sweeping changes until 2012, four years later than planned.
Overhauling voting systems before next year’s presidential election had once been a top Democratic priority, primarily to allow greater accountability and be certain that all votes registered on computerized touch-screen systems were counted. But state and local elections officials told Congress they could not make the changes in time for the balloting in November 2008, particularly in light of the extra workload involved in preparing for next year’s much-earlier presidential primary season.
A paper trail -- "tiny, cash-register-style printers" attached to touch-screens --will be available for some but not all voters.
So here we go again.
...Critics say that while billions have been spent to improve voting since the disputed presidential election in 2000, the compromise would leave a patchwork and somewhat jury-rigged system that would still be vulnerable to tampering or computer malfunctions in next year’s elections. Many experts have criticized the add-on printers, which use thin rolls of relatively fragile paper, as too prone to paper jams and smearing to ensure that every vote is counted.
Does anyone else find these temporary measures and all the states' complaints inexcusable? In seven years, how come they're not able to provide voters with reliable, accountable machines? For the same reasons we seem unable to have reliable, accountable government?
