WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- Local elections officials in the United States, facing a deadline on improving voting processes, are trying to determine which system is the most accurate.
The 2002 Help America Vote Act provided $2.3 billion to help states upgrade their voting machines by Jan. 1, 2006. The idea was to get rid of the punch-card method that created such problems in Florida in the 2000 presidential election.
With concerns about punch cards noted, local officials are left trying to figure out which new system is best, USA Today reported. Many have gone to electronic touch-screen machines, but there is concern about a lack of a paper trail for those devices, which some tests have shown flawed.
Doug Chapin, director of the non-profit electionline,org which monitors election policy, told the newspaper: "There is no clarity whatsoever on what the replacement should be. There is a significant downside risk that you will buy a system that will have to be modified later. They are going as slowly as they can, but the deadline may wind up forcing their hands."
