Various voting methods and machines have been used in U.S. elections, such as hand-counted paper, mechanical lever machines, punch-card machines, scanned paper ballots, and direct-recording electronic devices. Forays into electronic voting machines have been stymied by unfounded conspiracy theories about the safety of voting machines, and despite the use of electronic technology by election officials, the system continues to be largely centered around paper ballots.
In this image, a female voter demonstrates using an electronic voting machine in the library at Martha Lake Elementary School in Lynnwood, Washington. This method has not been permanently adopted by the Washington State Legislature and since 2011, the Legislature has required voting by mail with paper ballots for all voters statewide.
Caption information source: "Computers will fix elections: Yes or no? - Even companies in the business can't decide whether future is online or on paper" by D. Richman, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 25, 200, p.A1. Caption information source: Washington Secretary of State. (n.d.). The history of voting and elections in Washington State. Elections Division, Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved from https://www2.sos.wa.gov/elections/timeline/time5.htm
Additional Information: Metadata created as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
Credit: MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, 2000.107.20090917.CD02.04.001, photo by Grant M. Haller
