MARYLAND should heed computer scientists' warnings and cancel its $55.6 million purchase of touch-screen voting machines.
E-voting is so susceptible to errors and manipulation irregularities could negate the whole idea of free and fair elections.
This is not a criticism directed solely at Diebold Elections Systems, which is selling 11,000 touch-screen machines for
use throughout Maryland. Its competitors' products, too, have the same fatal flaw: There is no paper trail. Consequently,
there is no real way to verify disputed results. Unlike paper ballots, which can be recounted, a computer cannot adequately
document individual voting actions. Tampering -- or unintended programming errors -- can be difficult to prevent.
There is no way to satisfactorily resolve these issues. Manufacturers of computerized voting machines steadfastly refuse
to have their software independently examined by outsiders, insisting their code is proprietary. Nevertheless, enough unauthorized
software used by such companies has been leaked to warrant grave concern. ...
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