Maryland: paper-trail for voting machines appears dead in Senate
The Baltimore Sun reports: The Maryland Senate effectively sank a bill yesterday that would have required voting machines to generate a paper record that could be reviewed prior to election results being certified as official.
"This is obviously a ploy to kill any hope of getting it done in time for an election," said Del. Sheila E. Hixson, the Montgomery County Democrat who sponsored a House version of the bill. The measure mandated that the paper records be kept at polling places at a cost of $17 million to the state for fiscal year 2008 and $1.5 million for fiscal year 2009.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. was reluctant to back the Senate measure, which differed in some details, at a time when the state faces the prospect of significant deficits. Rather than vote on the bill, senators decided to send it back to committee. With two weeks left in the 90-day session, the measure is unlikely to be resurrected. ...
Last year, the House of Delegates approved similar paper-trail legislation, but the proposal died in the Senate. Linda H. Lamone, Maryland's elections chief, has warned lawmakers that rushing to implement a new system could complicate ballot counting in the 2008 presidential election. -- Vote trail hits dead end in Senate - baltimoresun.com