Originally Posted by MS Fowler

I think touch screens may be useful, but ONLY as am assisit to marking a paper ballot. We used to have paper ballots that required the voter simply to complete the arrow to vote for their candidates. That was simple enough. A computer could be used to mark those ballots if some wanted the assistance. In any event, after marking the ballot manually, or having the computer mark it, the voter than reviews the paper ballot to make sure it is marked as they intended. After that, an optical scanner counts the ballots. The paper ballots are stoered for a possible recount. Low tech and reliable. Why was that system ever changed?

I heard that Diebold says their machines have a "recount capability"---the machine uses its own memory to print out "paper ballots". But since they are simply another presentation of the same invisible electrons they are not traceable. The machine simply continues to report the same data.