Editorial: Assuring an accurate vote

Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005 | 8:10 a.m.

In the general elections last year, Nevada was the only state in the country using touch-screen voting machines that also produced a printout for voters verifying their selections. Partly because of Nevada's success, the federal government provided grants so that all states could begin purchasing the machines.

On Tuesday the state Board of Examiners used nearly $2 million it received from a federal grant to order 604 of the machines, with 472 of them destined for Clark County. This will help, as there were only one or two of the machines for each polling place in the November elections. Even still, Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax says he will be at least 700 machines short for the 2008 presidential elections, given the continued population growth.

Lomax said he will approach the Clark County Commission to discuss how the additional machines, with a total cost of about $1 million, could be financed.

We believe the county should make room in its budget for this expense, which is a priority for many voters. In 1993, when the county decided to switch from punch cards to electronic machines, County Commission meetings were extended by hours as voters lined up to protest the lack of a "paper trail" on the machines being considered. The paper-trail issue has been with us ever since. We believe voters are right to insist on verification. Ensuring our votes against human fraud and mechanical malfunction is priceless.