Sparky says: When the BBC (and not the Guardian) asks “Can We Trust Our Voting Machines” - you've got to hope those evil GOP bastards haven't hobbled all of them.

“... Hacking fears

Voters going to the polls on Tuesday will encounter two main types of new technology.

Paperless touch-screen machines will be in place in 33 states. Elsewhere, voters will fill out a paper ballot which will then be read by an optical scanner and tallied automatically.

‘When in doubt, go paper, go low-tech’ - Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich

Concerns have focused on the touch-screen machines, with local officials worried about both their accuracy and the lack of a paper trail to verify the votes cast.

Critics say they are vulnerable to computer failure and deliberate hacking, laying results open to claims of fraud; lawsuits have been filed in several states seeking to bar their use.

Maryland's Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich has become one of the most high-profile sceptics, after his state's primary vote in September was plagued by computer glitches.

Some polling stations opened late because workers had not been given cards needed to work the voting machines; in others, computers crashed or failed to register voters' party affiliation correctly.

The governor, who is himself up for re-election, said he had opted to cast his mid-term vote by absentee ballot through the post - and he has urged fellow voters in the state to do the same.

"When in doubt, go paper, go low-tech," he said. ...”

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I remind you - VOTE THE BUMS OUT!