Cast your vote... or not

I voted this morning in my first New York primary. The good news was that I was in and out of my polling place (conveniently across the street from my apartment!) in about 15 minutes. No kidding!

The bad news: I'm a bit wary of the voting machines here in NYC. They're creaky, antiquated machines that automatically engender a sense of distrust—is my vote actually counted? You start by pulling a red lever from left to right to start the vote, then you're presented with a panel full of switches next to each candidate's name; turn down the switch next to the candidate you want to vote for. (Did I mention there seems to be almost no organization to this panel?) You finish by pulling the lever back from right to left to "count" the vote.

There's no ballot of any kind, no printout of your vote, nothing. You pretty much have to trust that your vote was recorded...and hope your state's results aren't so close as to demand a recount, because that might not happen if there's no paper trail of the votes cast!

And apparently, these machines really aren't all that accurate: back in 2002, the New York Times reported that quite a few of them malfunctioned. We're talking a significant number here:  "In the 2001 mayor's race in New York City, there were more uncounted, unmarked, and lost votes than in Florida in 2000 because of the city's antiquated lever machines..."

And it's not just New York's lever machines; Ohio and several other states have had problems with the touch-screen machines, and let's not forget the "hanging chad" fiasco in Florida in 2000.

How is it that we can spend billions on defense every year, but we can't develop a reliable nationwide voting system?

So in my mind, the question isn't really "Who did you vote for?" It's more a question of "Are you sure your vote actually counted?"