Thanks for coverage of problems involved in
paperless electronic voting ["Voting Machines Under Scrutiny; States Face
a Jan. 1 Deadline to Meet Reliability Standards," news story, Dec. 7]. A
voter-verified paper trail is crucial to the health of our democracy. Without
it, many voters won't be confident that their votes have been counted honestly.
If Diebold Inc. can give us paper receipts when we use our ATM cards, surely
it's not too much to ask that it do the same with our votes.
But why hasn't The Post been covering Diebold's
problems in Maryland? The Diebold machines that sparked so much controversy in
California -- where the machines were blamed for voting disruptions in a 2004
primary -- are supposed to be an improvement on the ones used in Maryland. The
legislature in Annapolis will be grappling with this problem soon. It would be
a great service to The Post's readers to keep them informed about this.
MARION EDEY
Silver Spring
