A return to paper ballots

After the recount fiasco during the 2000 Presidential election, many states looked toward technology to solve the problem that arose during the recount. Many states switched from the old paper ballot to the new electronic voting system. Nevada was one of those states that switched to the electronic voting systems. These new systems were in use during the last few elections. Now more and more states are going back in time, to a day of paper ballots.
Nevada is trying to become one of those states. During the 75th session of the Nevada Legislature, Assemblywoman Pierce introduced A.B. 435, which would return Nevada to the paper ballot. That bill, unfortunately, did not make it out of committee but I was encouraged when I saw a Bill Draft Resolution (BDR) prior to the start of the 76th Legislative Session. After some brief correspondence with Assemblywoman Pierce, I learned that a new version of the bill would not be introduced this session.
In the age of technology which we live, call me a conspiracy theorist, but I believe we need to return to paper ballots. I know that these machines have been tested and you get to see a print out of selected candidates. But should we blindly trust these machines? If you remember during the 2008 Presidential Campaign we learned that then candidate Obama's website had been hacked. Private industries have had their computer systems hacked and we are supposed to trust that the same can not happen to the voting machines. With the paper ballot, at least you have a permanent, punched record that can be manually inspected and counted. How do they even recount an election with the machines? I know the whole "hanging chad" fiasco from the 2000 Presidential Election created a fervor that really catapulted the electronic voting machines into widespread use was supposed to eliminate the controversy, but it has not and with the 2010 midterm elections and all the reported glitches in the electronic system has brought about cries of fraud.
There will never be a way to eliminate all fraud from elections, but with paper ballots it will at least be a lot harder to manipulate the results of an election. Paper ballots will increase the integrity of our elections. Be sure to contact your state legislators and tell them to support the return to paper ballots. Let's help Assemblywoman Pierce get this bill through and preserve honesty and integrity to our election process.

Please refer to Examiner article for links to sources.