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The article focuses on issues relating to voter-verified paper ballots with direct electronic recording (DRE) machines. Calls for the U.S. government to require that electronic voting machines produce voter-verified paper trails ran into opposition from two members of a Senate committee during a hearing on e-voting. Voting accuracy advocates and some lawmakers have repeatedly called for printers to be attached to e-voting machines to ensure their accuracy. Five bills introduced in Congress this year would require voter-verified paper ballots with DRE machines. DRE paper trails would reassure voters that ballots are being counted correctly. Two computer scientists disagreed over the effectiveness of voter-verified paper-trail ballots. DREs are tested before and after elections, and election officials have better forensic tools to find errors on DREs than on other types of ballots.

The article reports on the technical problems and the challenges faced by the board of elections with the electronic voting systems in the U.S. In Colorado, technical and procedural problems of the machines arise in both registration and voting. Voters in Florida find difficulties in viewing the candidates that they will vote for due to touch-screen systems malfunction. However, co-director of Voter Action Holly Jacobson stresses that the reported machine malfunctions were misleading. Spokesman Alan Melamed of the board of elections emphasizes the used of paper ballots for those voters affected with machine malfunctions. Moreover, elections judge in Maryland Avi Rubin stresses is opposition on the voting system since the system still lack adequate security measures. INSET: Critics Split on Whether to Abandon DREs.

The article offers information about Air Operations Center's Annual Election to be held on July 1, 2006 in the U.S. The election will be a hybrid one, as it gives members the option to vote online or by paper ballot. The online process is more convenient and saves printing and postage costs. Deadline for the submission of paper ballots will be on June 1, 2006.

This article reveals that the American Library Association (ALA) will hold its first all-online election in spring 2009. According to ALA President Jim Rettig, the decision to save nearly a half million pieces of paper and $90,000 in postage and printing is good for the association and environment. Under the new procedure, members who have not provided an e-mail address by March 1, 2009 will receive a paper mailing with information on the election website and an individual election password.

The article discusses the technical and security-related glitches of the touch screen electronic voting systems and software from Diebold Election Systems in the U.S. With the use of the system, also called direct recording equipment, paper ballots are no longer needed thus, ensuring safer voting. The voting machines includes a thermal printer where the printed summary reassures the voter and provides a paper-based alternative that officials can use to verify the electronic tabulations. Computers have helped become easier and faster in terms of reading and tallying votes.

The article discusses the announcement of the editorial board of the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" (AJC) about its new approach to election coverage. The newspaper emphasized that it will no longer endorse political candidates and would include concise information on candidates' positions and records. It is believed that the decision reflects the business principle of the paper's publisher who did not even have a vote on endorsements.

The article presents the schedule of the 2007 election of the American Libraries Association. The deadline for requesting paper ballots will be on March 2. Election polls are set to open on March 15. The polls will close on April 24. Results will be revealed on May 1. For additional information, visit www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/governanceb/electioninfo/2007electionschedule.htm.

This article reports on the initiative taken by the federal board in the U.S. toward electronic voting machines that include independent audit mechanisms. The proposal would require that new direct recording electronic voting machines provide independently verifiable voting records such as voter-verified paper-trail printouts. The plan is offered by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's Technical Guidelines Development Committee. A final proposal will be submitted to the Election Assistance Commission.

The article reports the case of Randy Wooten, a mayoralty candidate in Waldenburg, Arkansas who blamed the electronic voting for having zero votes during the final count. Wooten claims that he and his wife had voted for his name so he should have had at least two votes during the count. Wooten's wife blames the machine used during the election saying that the machine was really touchy and if the voter did not touch it just right exactly where he or she wants it, the vote would jump to other candidate's name. The spokesman of the Election Systems & Software Inc., the company who made the touch screen machine used during the elction, states that the equipment has no problem based on the analysis of the paper voting logs in the machine.

The article reflects on the technical problems of the electronic voting machines that could cause vote flipping in the U.S. Several complaints of vote flipping arises during the early voting, despite the assurance of the elections officials that the votes were not changed. To address the concern, an investigation led by professor David L. Dill of the Stanford University is conducted to determine the cause of vote-flipping incidents. The investigation found that the technical problems of the machines could be caused by voter error, where voters accidentally touched a screen and erroneously making a selection. Furthermore, professor Avi Rubin stresses paper records of every ballot cast as the alternative way to be safe from vote flipping.

The article reports on developments related to the computer industry in the U.S. Rush Holt of New Jersey introduced a bill that would provide funds to voting jurisdictions that print paper ballots for voters who prefer not to cast their votes on touch screen machines during elections. Microsoft Corp. has released a test version of its new Forefront Security for SharePoint software, which will support upcoming versions of Microsoft's portal software. After three years at SAP AG, Uwe Herold has been named chief information officer of the company.

This article reports the introduction of legislative bill by a group of U.S. lawmakers requiring that electronic touch-screen voting machines allow a voter-verifiable paper trail. The Voting Integrity and Verification Act would require printed ballots that voters could check after using an electronic voting machine. The bill, introduced by Senator John Ensign, would add clarifying language to the Help America Vote Act passed by Congress in 2002.

Presents several proposals on how to fix the vote-counting procedures used in the United States elections. Criticisms on Electoral College; Proposal for improvement of voting terminals and paper-based ballots; Problems with internet voting.