Checking the vote

Washington Post: Florida and Katherine Harris are forever linked with American skepticism about the integrity of the voting system. So it is strangely appropriate that six years after a controversy over hanging chads ended with George W. Bush in the White House, a fight over election results to fill Harris' 13th Congressional District seat is raising new questions about voting.
A state audit is underway to determine why some 18,000 ballots in Sarasota County did not show votes in a race ultimately decided, by a mere 369 votes, in favor of the Republican candidate. Did voters intentionally opt not to cast a vote? Did the electronic voting machines malfunction? Or, was it simply, as many believe, a case of a badly designed ballot that made it easy to overlook the Democratic candidate? It's important that these questions be answered, not just to determine the outcome of this race but to maintain the integrity of voting for contests where more than one congressional district could be at stake.
Alarm sounded
Unfortunately, the chances of finding a definitive reason for the "missing" votes are diminished because of Florida's failure to require a way to verify and audit votes recorded by touch-screen voting machines. A new alarm about the consequences of not having such a backup for the machines -- which are used not just in Sarasota but in the Washington area and much of the nation -- was sounded this week by an influential group that gives advice to the federal government. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission will review the draft report next week and, we hope, add its voice to the growing chorus for some type of paper trail that voters can use to verify their vote and that election officials can audit in close and disputed races.
Our support for a paper trail is not rooted in any belief that machines are to be mistrusted. Nor are we inclined to credit the theories about how election machines can be rigged. There is no evidence that any such fraud has occurred, and while there were scattered problems in the recent midterm election, overall the system functioned well.
It's only prudent that there be additional safeguards. It's likely that when the Democratic-led Congress convenes next year, there will be a renewed push to mandate paper trails, as well as a broader discussion of election reform.
The sooner this conversation occurs, the better. The next presidential election is not that far off, and the last thing this country needs is more lingering questions from Florida.