Maryland’s top election official wants to ditch touch-screen machines in favor of paper ballots for early voting before the April primaries because the electronic machines can’t display all candidates on the same screen. Candidates with last names further down the alphabet — including GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, Democratic Senate candidate Chris Van Hollen, Republican Senate contender Kathy Szeliga and Democratic House candidate David Trone — may be at a disadvantage because of the format, Elections Administrator Linda Lamone said. In addition, it can be difficult to use the touch screens to navigate between multiple pages of candidates. “It would cause confusion to voters, and it would take them a lot more time to vote,” Lamone said in an interview. The State Board of Elections has called an emergency meeting for Thursday to address the problem.
The April 26 primary is the debut of the state’s $28 million shift to hard-copy ballots filled out with pens and put through a scanner, nearly a decade after the legislature demanded a voting system that leaves a paper trail. The switch has been fraught with delays and hiccups that have in turn prompted partisan feuding.
… The alternatives before the board Thursday aren’t easy fixes. Changing the touch-screen machines to show all candidates on a single screen probably would require significant programming that would trigger a lengthy recertification process, McManus said.
And if state officials opt for paper ballots, as Lamone is recommending, election boards would have to scramble to have all the permutations of possible ballots available.
Full Article: Maryland may scrap touch-screen machines for early voting, too – The Washington Post.
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