Ride the Lightning

PAPER BALLOTS VS VOTING MACHINES: NO CONTEST

November 5, 2008

Yesterday, John and I were amazed to find paper ballots available at our polling place – we've been using voting machines with touch screens for years. We were given the choice: "paper ballot or voting machine?" We looked at each other, grinned, and said in one voice, "paper please."

And we were not alone. Friends reported that, given a choice, the overwhelming majority of Virginians chose paper over voting machines. Clearly, the mistrust of electronic voting is profound – as is the conviction that this is one form of electronic evidence that is likely to remain vulnerable to the shennanigans of those who would "steal" elections.

That aside, the day went pretty smoothly, once again affirming the greatness of this country, where the transition of power takes place peacefully, even when divisions among its people run deep.

Long ago, outside the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, a woman asked Ben Franklin: "What sort of government have you given us Dr. Franklin?" He replied, "A republic, madam, if you can keep it."

We're working on it Ben.

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