The paper trail

Your correspondent, Dennis McFeely (Letters, May 21, 2007 A20) is right to be suspicious of the American electoral system with its partisan officials, partisan redistricting, and partisan excesses in fundraising.

The alarm he raises about the fraudulent paper trail is is a false one. Yes, as he says "a computer can easily be programmed ... to accept a vote for candidate A, give the vote to Candidate B, and print a vote on the paper trail for Candidate A," but such a result will not survive an audit. The point of the paper trail is to permit auditing of the result and allow recounting of the vote. The improper programming would easily be detected.

Sent to New York Times