Controversy heats up over electronic voting machines

According to Ars Technica, about a third of the US will be using computer based voting machines come voting season. One third, people! I guess our best bet is to hope that the people that figure out a way to hack into these machines do not belong to the opposite political party you are voting for.

According to Federal regulations, voting systems must be certified by a third party tester. However, no government oversight for the testing process exists, and no law requires public disclosure of the test results. Validation of many of the new voting systems has been slow, leading many to wonder what flaws are being uncovered. With the election looming, states that plan to use the touchscreen systems are rushing to do their own tests or are buying uncertified machines. Recent, well-publicized failures of electronic voting methods in several states have only reinforced fears about the possibilities of voting errors or tampering. Furthermore, many of the touchscreen systems do not produce paper records, which could be invaluable in case of recounts during another closely contested Presidential election.