Gaithersburg, Md. – A federal advisory panel on Monday rejected a recommendation that states use only voting machines whose results could be independently verified.
The panel drafting voting guidelines for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission voted 6-6 not to adopt a proposal that would have required electronic machines used by millions of voters to produce a paper record or other independent means of checking election results. Eight votes were needed to pass it.
Some panel members who voted against the proposal said they support paper records but don’t think the risk of widespread voting-machine meltdowns is great enough to rush the requirement into place.
Congress created the panel after vote-counting problems in the 2000 presidential election.
