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A long quest in Texas for a better voting machine
Oct 24, 2018

A long quest in Texas for a better voting machine

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This week, we're talking election security and technology. Today's show is focused on old tech: paper. Remember the 2000 presidential election fiasco and the hanging chads, those tiny bits of paper that stuck to paper ballots? They confused vote counters so much the Supreme Court eventually had to decide the election. Well, in 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act. It set new voting standards and gave election offices a bunch of money, mostly for new electronic voting machines. But within a few years, election security officials were asking for a good old-fashioned paper trail. Dana DeBeauvoir, who runs elections in Travis County, Texas, went on a yearslong quest to design her own electronic voting machine, complete with paper trail. (10/23/18)

Segments From this episode

A long quest in Texas for a better voting machine

Oct 24, 2018
Want confidence in an election? Stick to paper.
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images

A long quest in Texas for a better voting machine

Oct 24, 2018
Want confidence in an election? Stick to paper.
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images

This week, we’re talking election security and technology. Today’s show is focused on old tech: paper. Remember the 2000 presidential election fiasco and the hanging chads, those tiny bits of paper that stuck to paper ballots? They confused vote counters so much the Supreme Court eventually had to decide the election. Well, in 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act. It set new voting standards and gave election offices a bunch of money, mostly for new electronic voting machines. But within a few years, election security officials were asking for a good old-fashioned paper trail. Dana DeBeauvoir, who runs elections in Travis County, Texas, went on a yearslong quest to design her own electronic voting machine, complete with paper trail. (10/23/18)

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