Louisiana is looking for new voting machines and a new way to vote. The Secretary of State’s office is seeking proposals to replace voting machines across the state and for software that will create a paper ballot on those machines that the voter can review before casting the vote. “It takes away the perception that the machine switched the votes,” Secretary of State Tom Schedler said Tuesday. It’s highly unlikely that vote switching could happen. But recent incidents, such as news that someone hacked into voter registration lists or that Russia may have interfered with elections, have led many to worry about possible computerized tampering at the ballot box. The system Schedler seeks would create a paper trail that would allow officials to go back and physically count the ballots cast.
That seems to be what the public is demanding these days and about 30 states now are using some form of paper ballots, Schedler said.
Currently, the voting machines, which are 10 to 13 years old, collect ballots on an encrypted tape. The new machines would be smaller and lighter, more like a large iPad, meaning the precinct polls would take up less space.
Full Article: Secretary of State asking how much will it cost to change the way Louisiana votes | Elections | theadvocate.com.