From The Associated Press, 7/14/04:

Voting Machine Critics Rally Across U.S.

By TOM STUCKEY
Associated Press Writer

July 14, 2004, 3:16 AM EDT


ANNAPOLIS, Md. --

A coalition of activists around the nation held rallies in state
capitals to publicize their fears about paperless voting systems.

In Maryland, more than 100 activists demonstrated Tuesday outside the
State House demanding that voting machines be equipped with printers
before the November election.

Participants in the "Computer Ate My Vote" campaign said paperless
voting systems are poorly programmed and prone to hackers, fraud and
software bugs.

VerifiedVoting.org, which organized the campaign, said rallies were
held in 19 states.

"We want a paper trail now, this November," Linda Schade, of
TrueVoteMD.org, said at the Annapolis rally.

Donna Duncan, manager of the election management division for the
State Election Board, said the machines used in Maryland have
undergone more security testing than any other election system in the
country.

In Tallahassee, Fla., about 20 activists rallied outside the state
Capitol and delivered about 20,000 petitions to the Division of
Elections.

"Computers don't work very well," said Tom Baxter, one of the rally
organizers.

"If you want to have something you can count, you need paper."

Florida officials officials insist touchscreens are far more accurate
than older voting systems -- such as the state's retired and
much-maligned punch card system.

In Utah, about 50 people gathered on the steps of the Utah Capitol to
ask the Voting Equipment Selection Committee to expand its search for
balloting options.

A federal law enacted after the 2000 Florida election fiasco provides
billions of dollars in funding for electronic machines.

Utah is among a handful of states that still use a mostly punch
card-based system.

Barbara Simmons, a former president of the Association for Computing
Machinery told protesters that officials should hold off on electronic
balloting until more accurate machines are available.

"If I had a single message ... that message would be 'Wait,'" she
said.

"There's better technology on the way."

"We are unified in our desire to protect and defend our voting
system," Madeleine Hervey, of Common Cause of Texas, said at a rally
in Austin, Texas.

________________________________________________________

Between bogus voting machines and Bush's attempt to cancel the
election................ Dunno.

Harry