Election Day: All those 1's and 0's

Just in case you've been hibernating for the last few weeks, today is Election Day in the USA.

The last few years, there has been a myriad of issues with the electronic voting machines. I'm thrilled to see that our local governments have been paying attention. Four years ago, we could only vote using the electronic machines. Yuck-o. This morning, we had a choice of paper or electronic. PAPER, baby!

One of the poll workers tried to assure my husband and I that the electronic machines were 'easy to use.' Well, of course they are. But you see, that's not the point. My husband and I both work in the software/database industry. And we KNOW how easy it is to change data in a database. One row at a time or in bulk.

Having all voting records electronically is inappropriate. There is too much at stake. There needs to be a paper back-up of some sorts in case the database fails or is compromised in any way. We applaud the decision to offer paper, and we imagine that in 4-8 years the electronic machines may be gone.