Abstract
Voting with assurance seems to be an obvious, simple concept. A registered voter should be able to cast his or her ballot with the confidence that the vote will be counted as cast. Traditionally, paper ballots have seemed like a simple, comfortable voting solution. However, paper ballots in some forms can be easily manipulated, result in ambiguous interpretations (e.g., “hanging chadsâ€), are sometimes error-prone, and do not provide a quick tally. In our technology-saturated society, we want results right away, and it would seem that technology could speed up vote counting and make it more accurate. Computers are being integrated into every aspect of our lives, so why can’t they work for voting, too? If we can use computers to control airplanes, factories, and ATM machines, we should certainly be able to use them in voting!
