Voting Technology
With the help of computers and other machines, the United States is moving toward more efficient and reliable voting methods.
Iris Stanley casts her ballot on an electronic voting machine in the
presidential preference primary at her poling place in Roswell, Georgia, on March 2.
(AP Photo/Ric Feld)
The technology of voting—how voters physically cast their votes—has taken many forms in U.S. electoral history. During the colonial period, when many people could not read, voters often voted through a show of hands or a voice vote. By the late 1700s paper ballots had become predominant. Their use, however, declined steadily following the invention of the mechanical voting machine in 1869. In 2004, less than 1 percent of all U.S. voters will use traditional paper ballots.
Voting technology varies by county in each state. In the 2004 election, six voting systems will be used. Following are the percentages of registered voters who will use each system, as projected by Election Data Services. The voting systems are:
- punch card: voters punch holes next to their selections on a paper ballot—13.7 percent
- mechanical lever: voters pull a machine lever to mark their choices—14 percent
- optical scan: voters fill in a machine-readable ballot—34.9 percent
- Direct-Recording Electronic Systems (DREs): voters use touch-screen or push-button machines - 29.3 percent
- paper ballots: votes are marked on paper and counted by hand—0.7 percent
- mixed: machine use varies by towns within each county—7.4 percent
The rise of electronic voting machines received a tremendous boost with the 2002 Help America Vote Act. Congress enacted the law, which dedicated $3.9 billion to improve election administration, after a ballot controversy in the 2000 presidential election demonstrated the need to update and improve voting systems. Because the popular vote in Florida was so close, the Gore campaign requested a recount.
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The law featured a $325-million buyout program to replace older punch card and mechanical lever voting systems with new DRE systems. The number of voters using DREs is expected to rise from 12.6 percent in 2000 to 29.3 percent in 2004.
The Help America Vote Act also includes provisions to combat election fraud and to ease ballot access. Reforms that come into effect this year include regulations to verify the identity of first-time voters and to mandate state definitions of what constitutes a valid vote. Each precinct is also required to have at least one machine accessible to the blind and disabled. Additional reforms are to be fully implemented by 2006.
