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I have always taken the position that I want to see and verify the ballot that goes into the box before I believe my vote has been registered. The 'inkavote' system we've been inflicted with in California makes that harder -- the old punch card was infinitely easier to tell if you'd marked the right number since the number on the ballot form matched the numbers next to the holes. 'inkavote' covers the number, which I really don't like.

With these electronic machines, I don't have a ballot to check over. I have a computer screen that might or might not reflect what my intention was. It doesn't print out a ballot to put into the box; instead it cheerfully assures me that my vote will be counted.

I'm all for machines for making voting easier, but they should print a ballot which is what is counted for the results of the election. Go ahead and use the electronic record for 'instant trends' as soon as the polls close, but until verification of the paper ballots is made, the election should not be considered over.

How many people have had a dispute with the bank over an ATM, especially in the first decade of their use? Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands? I'm not interested in our political process being a guinea pig to iron out the bugs.

I'm all for machines for making voting easier, but they should print a ballot which is what is counted for the results of the election.

You've nailed the solution exactly. The proposed "receipt" solution can be hacked by the simple expedient of printing a receipt that doesn't match the vote that's actually reported. Any attempt to resolve that in some way results in the individual voter losing anonymity. The solution is to print a ballot that goes into a locked, sealed, box.

Of course once you do that, the only difference between the multi-thousand dollar machines and a one dollar "X" ink stamp is that the machines give you instant, though unofficial, results.

And, for what it's worth, receipts without a paper ballot provide a way for anyone who wants to cast doubt on the election results to do so with ease.