An Examination of the History and Impact of Mechanized Elections in the United States
"Reports of problems in Florida and elsewhere in the nation during the 2000 election brought to the public's attention
many weaknesses in the ways elections are administered and the specific failures of voting technologies..." 1
-Voting Technology Standards
Act of 2001, United States House of Representatives
The concept of free and fair elections is vital to democratic ideals in the United States and throughout the world. Although voting rights were not widely enjoyed at the time of our country's founding, the United States of today has a duty to grant universal suffrage and ensure that votes are tabulated fairly and properly. Hand-counting of ballots is still performed in some areas of the nation, but the use of machines to tabulate votes is predominant. The widespread use of voting technology has consequences, however. The fiasco of the 2000 presidential election in particular sparked intense examination of the usefulness of voting technology in American elections.
The purpose of this site is to examine the history and evolution of voting technology in the United States and evaluate its impact on American history and political culture. Methods of voting have evolved much as elections themselves have. Thus, this site aims to describe the different artifacts of voting technology used today as well as their antecedents. In addition, the impact of voting technology and some of its problems will be assessed.
In the Federal Election Commission's 2002 publication of voting technology standards, voting systems are defined as including both the methods to cast votes and the associated equipment used to count, transmit, report, and display results and related information.2 The FEC also notes, however, that voting systems have traditionally been categorized simply by vote-casting method. For the purposes of this website, the traditional definition of voting systems will be used.
***Note: click on pictures to see a larger image with citation information.***
The concept of free and fair elections is vital to democratic ideals in the United States and throughout the world. Although voting rights were not widely enjoyed at the time of our country's founding, the United States of today has a duty to grant universal suffrage and ensure that votes are tabulated fairly and properly. Hand-counting of ballots is still performed in some areas of the nation, but the use of machines to tabulate votes is predominant. The widespread use of voting technology has consequences, however. The fiasco of the 2000 presidential election in particular sparked intense examination of the usefulness of voting technology in American elections.
The purpose of this site is to examine the history and evolution of voting technology in the United States and evaluate its impact on American history and political culture. Methods of voting have evolved much as elections themselves have. Thus, this site aims to describe the different artifacts of voting technology used today as well as their antecedents. In addition, the impact of voting technology and some of its problems will be assessed.
In the Federal Election Commission's 2002 publication of voting technology standards, voting systems are defined as including both the methods to cast votes and the associated equipment used to count, transmit, report, and display results and related information.2 The FEC also notes, however, that voting systems have traditionally been categorized simply by vote-casting method. For the purposes of this website, the traditional definition of voting systems will be used.
***Note: click on pictures to see a larger image with citation information.***