HOW did you vote today?

[alphaboi867]

How did you vote today? I voted by filling out a paper ballot with an inkpen and dropping the ballot in a big metal box. There wasn't anything electronic in site (well other than the lights & a coffee pot).

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Electronic.

[Yllaria]

I filled out a mail-in ballot too late to mail it in, so I'll have to deliver it to a polling place. One day. One day I will mail in my absentee ballot.

[JohnT]

Electronic.

[RadicalPi]

Scantron form.

(Sample ballot: http://www.sbcvote.com/ElectionDataL...Ballots/12.pdf) PDF warning. Ballot starts on page 8.

[Captain Amazing]

They had both electronic and optical scan, and I voted electronic. (They're phasing out electronic voting, because people have complained there's no paper trail and they're scared their vote didn't get counted, but we've had it for like the past 10 years).

[Snowboarder Bo]

I voted very well, thank you. I even got a sticker from the poll workers!

[Pleonast]

I'm not sure what it's called. I was given a card with lots of ovals. I slid the card into a slot. As I viewed each ballot page, a column of ovals is exposed. I then marked the appropriate oval with a tiny marker that put a blob of ink in it. When done, I pulled the card out the slot and fed it through an optical scanner. If there was a problem it'd be spat out, but there wasn't so it dropped into the ballot box.

Originally Posted by Snowboarder Bo

I voted very well, thank you. I even got a sticker from the poll workers!

I avoided getting any ink on my hands. The sticker is the true payoff for voting.

[longhair75]

I voted using the pencil provided to fill out ovals on the card stock ballot.

[Peremensoe]

Electronic touch-screen, here in Virginia.

I really hate it. There is no paper trail, no means for a real verification or recount. We have to just... trust the machines.

[Frank]

I voted (two weeks ago) on a touch screen. It had a printer attached that printed each of my choices as I touched them, and I was able to read the printout. After I was done voting, the display reviewed my selections for each candidate/issue, and after that it allowed me to confirm and cast my ballot.

[MikeG]

Touchscreen here in IL

[outdoor1]

With the punch card and the infamous hanging chad. I still was looking for the option to fire them all and start over.

[Khadaji]

Touchscreen

[Kolga]

We had a choice of electronic or paper ballot. I chose paper (just 'cause it would be faster). I filled out ovals with a black pen, then the paper ballot was scanned into a machine.

[Chronos]

Bubble-in sheet, filled in by hand at a shaky privacy booth, and then fed into a machine that scanned it to verify it was valid and dropped it into a box below. All the convenience of electronic voting, all of the transparency and security of a paper trail. I can't imagine why anyone does it any other way.

[appleciders]

Mail-in ballot. Oregon's nice that way.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by Chronos

Bubble-in sheet, filled in by hand at a shaky privacy booth, and then fed into a machine that scanned it to verify it was valid and dropped it into a box below. All the convenience of electronic voting, all of the transparency and security of a paper trail. I can't imagine why anyone does it any other way.

Ditto in Akron OH today.

[Chefguy]

Originally Posted by appleciders

Mail-in ballot. Oregon's nice that way.

Sure is. No machines, no polling place to drive to, no people to pay except the counters.

[Reepicheep]

I filled in the ballot with a felt tipped pen, forgive me, I used the ballot marking devise, as directed by the poll worker. I then took the two sheets of card stock and put them in a large machine that looked like an expensive copier. They gave me an I voted sticker and I left.

[suranyi]

Paper ballot, using the "complete the arrow" optical scan system.

[pinkyvee]

Originally Posted by suranyi

Paper ballot, using the "complete the arrow" optical scan system.

Same here.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

Electronic touch-screen in Indiana.

[CyclopticXander]

Electronic touch screen. I know there are fears about paper trail and all that, but as far as speed, ease, and convenience are concerned these voting machines take the cake for me.

By the way. There is a paper printout from the machine at the end of the day. It is true that you don't have a paper means of going back vote by vote, but there is a hard copy of the results so there can be no electronic manipulation after the fact.

[MizTina]

Colorado mail in ballot the day after I received it, two weeks ago or so, it was a fill in the arrow type ballots mentioned previously.

[SanibelMan]

"Complete the arrow" optical scan here too.

[Palo Verde]

I had a choice of scantron or electronic, and I chose electronic. It was a Diebold, but there was a paper trail, which I appreciated.

[foolsguinea]

Polling place. Ink on card ("complete the arrow"), oops, there's a back, fill that out too. Scanner.

[pulykamell]

I had a choice. There was one electronic machine, and about a dozen paper machines. I chose electronic.

[asterion]

Originally Posted by Chronos

Bubble-in sheet, filled in by hand at a shaky privacy booth, and then fed into a machine that scanned it to verify it was valid and dropped it into a box below. All the convenience of electronic voting, all of the transparency and security of a paper trail. I can't imagine why anyone does it any other way.

I am under the impression that all of New York uses this system; it is indeed what I used. The ballot design could perhaps use some work; the spreadsheet or matrix style is simple enough for me but reports are that it confuses others. I've seen complaints that the type is too small as well. I don't think I saw an option for easy straight-ticket voting on the ballot either.

[Chronos]

By the way. There is a paper printout from the machine at the end of the day. It is true that you don't have a paper means of going back vote by vote, but there is a hard copy of the results so there can be no electronic manipulation after the fact.

Can you see your portion of the printout while you're still in the booth? Because without that, there's no paper trail. It's not any harder to lie twice than it is to lie once.

[Siam Sam]

My election office stateside sent me a paper ballot, which I filled out and mailed back. The ballot was of the fill-in-the-squares type, with blue or black ink (I used black). This was all back in September.

[RollOutTheBarrel]

I used the fill-in-the-bubble kind. I fed it into a scanner when I had finished filling it out. The scanner was a first for me. The last time I used that kind of ballot, I put it in an envelope and dropped it in a ballot box.

[moejoe]

Originally Posted by pinkyvee

Same here.

Me too, paper ballot, and I did not steal the pen on the way out.

[Chronos]

Me too, paper ballot, and I did not steal the pen on the way out.

That was apparently an issue at my polling place: They were very glad to see that I had my own pen, since theirs had been disappearing.

[BigT]

Originally Posted by Chronos

Can you see your portion of the printout while you're still in the booth? Because without that, there's no paper trail. It's not any harder to lie twice than it is to lie once.

Yes. At least, I could last year. It was kinda fun to watch, especially if you changed your mind, as it then had to go back and mark out your previous vote. Not that there were really any booths, anyways.

This year, as I've mentioned often here, I went with an absentee ballot. It was the kind where you fill in the ovals.