I have to tell you a funny story.  It’s absolutely true, and I have witnesses.

About 8 years ago when my county commissioners had already decided to buy some very expensive voting machines from a company who gave them large political contributions, it was decided that the public would have an opportunity to see these machines and compare them to other machines before the purchase was made.  Some of us were perfectly happy with a pencil and paper ballot because we felt a verifiable trail of each vote was somewhat important.

So, they held the public viewing of the machines at 9:30 on a Thursday morning.  You know, when “the public” is just sitting around with nothing else to do.  And they didn’t even bother to hold it in the county seat.

We got to see three machines.  We got to touch them, try them out, and take them for a spin.  I, of course, representing the cranky obstinate portion of the citizenry didn’t like any of them because none of them left a paper trail.

So, after the explanation we were asked to vote on which machine we liked best.  And how did they ask us to vote?  With a pencil and paper.

We never got to see the results of that voting.  I asked several times to see it, but, nope.

So, I was not surprised to hear this.

Voting machines used by as many as a quarter of American voters heading to the polls in 2012 can be hacked with just $10.50 in parts and an 8th grade science education, according to computer science and security experts at the Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. The experts say the newly developed hack could change voting results while leaving absolutely no trace of the manipulation behind.

Okay, I’ve got the $10.50 if one of you guys has an 8th grade science education.

Thanks to Carl for the heads-up.