Reps call for e-voting investigation

I'm glad someone else is paying attention to this issue. Three Democratic congressmen -- Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, and Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida -- have requested that the Government Accountability Office investigate this year's e-voting problems, which included the Ohio machine that gave Bush 3,893 extra votes, the Ohio machines that changed Kerry votes to Bush votes, and the machines in Florida and North Carolina that just ignored some votes altogether. (The link goes to a PDF, so have some free time or a fast connection.) The reps are all partisans who doubtless voted for Kerry, but the necessity of accurate vote counts transcends partisanship.

An investigation is a good start, but the integrity of our elections is too important a concern for Americans to allow it to remain mired in the bureaucratic swamp. Our unwavering and inflexible goal must be a law requiring a backup paper trail in all precincts that use e-voting. The technology to ensure the fairness of our elections is ready; now it's time to require its use.