Voting Systems

Mechanical Voting Machines

First Used 1892, Lockport New York

By 1930, universally used in urban areas in the United States

By 1950, "to pull the lever" and "to vote" were synonomous

 

Advantages over Paper Ballots

    Machine is perceived to be impartial

    Totals available in minutes

    Perceived to be "state of the art" technology

 

Disadvantages

    Thousands of moving parts
        Complete testing of the mechanism is very expensive

    No record of individual ballots
        No meaningful audit trail

    Reliance on technicians for maintenance
        A corrupt technician can control a county