Tennessee advances legislation requiring paper voting record

Both chambers of the Tennessee Legislature last week passed legislation requiring all voting to be done on machines that leave a paper record for recounts and audits, the Nashville Tennessean reported.

Comment on this article in The Forum.Reconciliation of minor differences between the Senate and House versions will need to be completed before being sent to the governor.

The bill passed too late for a statewide switch before the fall presidential election and will make every county use the new voting machines by 2010.

If signed into law, federal election funds will pay for all counties to use optical scanners where ballots are filled out by hand, then put into a machine to be tallied. Original ballots are saved in case they are needed for recounts or audits later.

Dick Williams, chairman of the Tennessee chapter of the watchdog group Common Sense, said he was in support of the measure.

"This will give voters the assurance that their vote is cast the way they want it to," said Williams. He added he was disappointed the law would not take effect this year.

State election coordinator Brook Thompson said he was glad the state would stop using touch-screen machines that do not leave a paper trail and that the legislature allowed enough time for statewide implementation.

"Anything that can bring some closure to the debate over voting systems is probably a good thing," Thompson said.