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Top MD Election Official: Go Back to Paper Ballots

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland's top election official wants to scrap touch-screen voting machines in favor of paper ballots for early voting before the April primaries.

The Washington Postreports Elections Administrator Linda Lamone is seeking to ditch the touch-screen machines because they can't display all candidates on the same screen.
 
She says the format can create a disadvantage for candidates with last names that are further down the alphabet. She also says it can be confusing and time-consuming for voters to navigate between multiple pages of candidates.
 
Officials initially wanted to use the machines for early voting because otherwise voters would have had to use multiple ballots to cast votes in multiple judicial, city council and congressional races.
 
Maryland's Board of Elections has called a Thursday meeting to address the issue.

 

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.