Black Box Voting: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Black Box Voting is voting on electronic machines which don't print paper ballots.

Many citizens are concerned that such electronic voting machines can be rigged. If a computer programmer for one of the private companies which makes such machines writes code which steals votes, it will be difficult to detect. Afterwards, if election results are suspicious, there is no way to do a meaningful recount.

In the U.S. in the 2004 election, about 25% of voting will be done on electronic voting machines. In federal elections in Canada, by contrast, votes are cast with paper ballots, and Canadians usually get election results the same night.

The term "Black Box Voting" was recently popularized by author and activist Bev Harris, who wrote a book with that title. Bev Harris has a website, www.blackboxvoting.org.

There is a bill in Congress to ban Black Box Voting by requiring all electronic voting machines to print paper ballots. The bill also requires some of those ballots to be audited and stored for possible recounts. The bill is titled "The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act," and it was introduced by Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ). The bill is described at www.verifiedvoting.org.