Yesterday the Maryland legislature voted unanimously to ban the use of paperless voting machines by 2010. The legislation requires an optically scannable paper ballot marked by hand or with the help of a ballot marking device. This news leaves one questioning the demise of Linda Lamone who has sworn that the state would go to paper “over my dead body”.

“Newer isn't always better. The Harrison County [Mississippi] Board of Supervisors has decided the new touch screen voting system isn't worth the hassle, the expense, or the nightmare it would create in a contested election. The board voted Monday to revert back to scanning machines on the recommendation of Circuit Clerk Gayle Parker. There are several reasons why Parker is no fan of the touch screen system. She says she'd rather stick to what works well than sit on the cutting edge of technology under a flawed system.” Among those reasons are that the Diebold TSx DREs are not “user friendly” and the system is “a headache”....

• NAtional: COTS and Other Electronic Voting Backdoors LINK
• National: People for the American Way (PFAW) is Misleading Americans on the Holt Election Reform Bill LINK
• National: Introducing the National Election Reform Platform LINK
• National: Good guys vs. Good guys on voting machine reform LINK
• California: CA SoS Bowen Strikes Back: Speaks up (Again) for the VOTERS! LINK
• Florida: Ballot reforms too little, critics say LINK
• Florida: Florida governor breaks ranks on felon voting rights LINK
• Florida: Columnist - Back to the future, riding the paper trail LINK
• Florida: Election-reform plan scraps touch screens LINK
• Florida: Senate unveils election-reform plan LINK
• Maryland: Maryland Passes Paper Ballot Bill: 'A Victory for Democracy' LINK
• Mississippi: Harrison County Switches Back To Old Voting System LINK
• Mississippi: Harrison County - Electronic voting machines dumped LINK
• Ohio: State board delays action on Brunner's budget plea LINK
• Ohio: Cuyahoga County - Election mishaps lead to board upheaval in key Ohio county LINK
• Ohio: Cuyahoga County - Chronology of Cuyahoga County elections board events LINK
• West Virginia: Ireland targets disabled in voter drive LINK

**"Daily Voting News" is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in "Daily Voting News" may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or Scoop.**

John Gideon
Executive Director www.votersunite.org and
Member www.votetrustusa.org