A constitutional amendment to allow early voting in Maryland appears certain to go before voters - but it's not as clear when they'll see paper records on electronic voting machines.

The Maryland legislature began work Thursday on the voting changes, both backed by top Democratic lawmakers. The early voting idea sparked little debate in House and Senate committees that separately considered the plan.

Paper records proved another matter.

A House committee heard hours of testimony about how the Diebold voting machines should be tweaked to ensure voter confidence that their votes will be counted. The sponsor of a bill to require some type of paper voting record, Democratic Delegate Sheila Hixson, cautioned her committee that the idea is "a work in progress."

But opinions were sharp on how to add a paper trail, which some say is needed to double-check elections results by hand in case of computer problems.

State elections administrator Linda Lamone said there probably isn't time to add paper ballots to all machines by 2008, the next presidential election. She suggested that precincts offer optical-scan ballots - where voters mark their choices on paper using a heavy pen - for voters who prefer paper ballots in 2008. By 2010, the next gubernatorial race, paper records could be on the electronic machines, she said.

Lamone's suggestion elicited groans and head-shaking from some in the audience fighting for quicker voting changes. Delegate Jon Cardin, D-Baltimore County, asked what good a paper ballot option would do in 2008 if all voters weren't required to use them, making the paper ballots useless for recounts.

Lamone later said that speedy implementation of paper ballots - especially coupled with early voting, giving elections workers less time to get ready for an election - could lead to disaster. "It's a mistake waiting to happen," she said. Lamone also argued that counting ballots by hand is "unreliable" compared to doing it by computer, another statement that fired up some in the audience.

Lawmakers then heard from critics of the Diebold machines used now in Maryland elections. One of them, computer scientist Edward Felten of Princeton University, said the machines were "relatively easy" to tamper with. Paper voting receipts, he argued, could imbue confidence in election results.

"The bottom line is, what kind of back-up is there? What kind of record?" Felten asked.

The executive director of True Vote Maryland also testified in favor of the record, noting that by addressing this issue early this year, the changes to voting machines could be made before next year's election.

Shazia Anwar told the House Ways and Means Committee that lawmakers could use the paper record ,"to ask for a recount of the entire voting public," if elections results are in doubt.

Later, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller told reporters that paper records of some sort are certain.

"It's something that's going to occur. It's just a question of how and when," he said.

Much less divisive is a proposal to amend the state constitution to allow early voting. Lawmakers have already approved early voting, but the state's highest court later ruled that the state constitution forbids it. The ruling means voters would have to approve a change to the state constitution before they could vote early, as allowed in some other states.

In both House and Senate committees, there were no opponents to the early voting idea.

"The core of this issue is giving citizens ... the opportunity to go to the polls early and not be limited to the Tuesday in November and Tuesday in September to participate in the election process," House Speaker Michael Busch testified.

A spokesman for Governor Martin O'Malley tells WBAL News the govenror supports both early voting and the paper trail for voting machines.

Press Secretary Rick Abbruzzese says the govenror believes the paper trail would give voters a record of the votes cast.

He adds the governor belives early voting makes voting "easier not harder."