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James Willis
Mr. Campopiano
Government 1
23 October 2015
Voting Machines
Ever since Americans have voted, there has always been a different way of recording
and counting the votes. Due to advances in technology, machines are now used instead of a
hand raising system, hearing the words yay or no, or paper ballots. However, there are vast
numbers of different types of voting machines currently used in elections held in the United
States of America. The very subject of voting machines is often overlooked, while in reality is a
very relevant issue. In a democracy such as the United States where voting is a vital
component, one would think the machine used in the process would be of some importance.
The United States of America should require all states and territories that vote to use the same
voting machine because it would save everybody involved in the voting process time and
money, increase voter turnout, and ultimately would eliminate any miscount situations or fraud in
the voting process.
The voting machines used throughout the country are vastly different from each other,
making each state spend millions of dollars and using time to find new voting machines which
takes away from the governments time.During an election, citizens who have the right to vote
may choose to go to their polling station and cast their vote. For every election, no matter how
big or small, or where the election is occurring in the United States, a different voting machine
will be used. There is currently no standardized voting machine used in the country(Voting
Experience). This means that the voting system used in Montana is different than the one used
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in Georgia and so on. On election day, a vital component every polling station needs is poll
workers. They are there to assist those who need help, whether that is helping guide them to an
open machine, sorting out problems, etc. However, what they do not only varies state to state,
but polling station to polling station. There are no poll training working standards(Voting
Requirements). So as long as the worker volunteers or are hired for the day, they dont receive
any training However, if the workers all new how the machines and voting day worked, it would
save time on election day. The funding of this training would come from the federal government,
which would help save the government money overall along with the voter having a quicker
experience. Both of these issues are prevalent on election day, along with the issue of voter
turnout.
In recent years it is no surprise that voter turnout is becoming a bigger and bigger and
issue, yet a commonly overlooked solution is the voting machines themselves. Often times
during election day, the news will speak of very low voter turnout. Less people are voting for
various reasons. People often dont know a lot about upcoming elections or the candidates
running. Other people simply dont care enough to go vote on election day. Another issue is that
not all polling stations have the same amount of voting machines, which often leads to
humongous lines out the door. Limited machines often lead to congested lines at polling
stations(Long Lines). A simple solution is an easy to use machine, with lots of them per station.
People often will not do something if they dont understand it. An example might be not knowing
how to use the voting machine. Whatever the reason, the number of people who didnt vote for
President in the countrys last election was shockingly high. An estimated 94 million people
didnt vote in 2012(Arent Voting). Although the government is trying to get more voter
education into the public, it is obvious it is at the bottom of their list of priorities.
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On an election day, voting usually doesnt make it high on the medias list unless something
shocking occurs such as a miscount, or reported case of fraud.The most attention voting

receives from the media happens when three things occur. One such event is when there is a
vote for the next President of the United States, most news channels will keep track of how
people and states are voting. Another event is when an important election is occurring that isnt
for President, and the media shows no one voting. The last main reason isnt always prevalent
in voting, but makes for a great story. When there is fraud during an election, people love to
cause a stir. Yet the best example comes from the Presidential Election of 2000. Many people
know of the recounts upon recounts in a county in Florida. The controversy of the election
results in Florida still stand questioned today(2000 Election). What most people dont
think about is how the system that the county used was faulty. Most states and territories use
unreliable and insecure voting machines(Voting Machines). If all states and territories used the
same machine, this sort of problem wouldnt occur.
Like most big changes in our country, they often take a long time to develop or actually
go into effect. Although standardized voting machines is a great idea, there always remains
opposition to progress. Some would argue that it would be waste setting up all the machines
and having poll workers not able to handle the new technology, and others would argue that it
would not really change anything. The Secretary of each State is in charge of determining the
voting machines allowed in their respective states(Frequently Asked Questions). If the United
States and its territories had to implement the new machines, each state and territory would
receive 50 million dollars to fund poll worker standards. Not only would that be made available
to them, but they also wouldnt have to worry about different companies competing and keeping
track of different types of machines. There are 14 different voting machine companies receiving
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money for their voting machines(Voting Machines). They would also argue that with a new
sudden change in voting machines, people wouldnt know how to use them. That is a very
simple problem to fix, as the government could create a website specifically for the purpose of
telling people how to use the new machines. As for the argument that not a lot would change,

there are a lot of holes in the argument. As aforementioned, voter turnout would increase, it
would save the government time and money in the long run and would prevent miscount
situations. The election issues of 2000 are still referenced, and would have been avoided in the
first place if all voting machines were standardized. No scandals, no second guessing the
system, and no feelings of doubt as to whom the president really should be.
If all states and territories that voted had standardized voting machines, everyone
involved with voting would save time and money, the amount of voters showing up on election
day would increase, and voting day issues would be avoided. The topic of voting always has
issues surrounding it, but with standardized voting machines most if not all of these issues
would be solved.With such a simple plan to solve a complex situation with many issues,
standardized voting must become a reality. However, this idea will not simply become reality. It
needs the support of the public, who needs to care and spread the word.If they do speak up,
then the government and the people they serve with both benefit.

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Works Cited
The American Voting Experience. support the voter.gov. Presidential Commission.Web.
24 September 2015.
Voting Requirements. USA.gov. United States Government.Web. 17 October 2015

Why People Arent Voting.kjrh .com. Web. 17 October 2015. (CCCLB)

Voting Machines.procon.gov.Procon.Web. 17 October 2015

Frequently Asked Questions. sos.ca.gov. California.Web. 17 October
2015.
Why the Lines Are So Long in Ohio and Florida. thinkprogress.org.
Think Progress.Web. 17 October 2015. (CCCLB)
Mate, Manoj.The 2000 Presidential Election Controversy.
www.academia.edu. Web. 2008. 18 October 2015.