State approves paper records for e-voting (CA) [View All]

California approved the nation's first standards Tuesday for a paper record to be produced by electronic voting machines and verified by voters.

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California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley ordered all e-voting machines in the state to offer the paper trail by July 2006 and had promised to define it by May.

"California is at the forefront of the movement toward a paper trail, and these standards help lead the way," said Kim Alexander, a paper-trail advocate and president of the Davis-based California Voter Foundation.

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Manufacturers and some elections officials say the paper trail adds an unnecessary and costly element to e-voting machines that generally are more accurate than other voting methods, except hand-marked and counted ballots.

But Shelley and other California officials say instability and lax security of the current generation of e-voting machines have made a paper trail inescapable.

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http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1865%257E2215866,00.html