Cuyahoga County spent some $14 million getting e-voting machines for the last election, but as critics of e-voting machines had predicted, e-voting machines proved to be troublesome. Buggy, equipment issues, the need for extra poll workers to help people with the unfamiliar systems, and people's general suspicion of trusting their vote to a machine have forced the commissioners of the county to consider ditching the voting machines they spent all that money on.

Although the lost money is a drag, this is probably a very positive step. Voters like the idea of having a paper trail and the optical ballot-scanning machines the county is leaning towards using gives us that important back up.

The idea that Diebold holds my vote in its electronic paws is squicky. Kudos for Cuyahoga County looking into the situation and admitting that they may have been wrong to jump too quickly in the touchscreen machine direction.

[photo via Flickr by Dawn Endico]