Why aren't all voting systems like my city?

[frazzled]

19. That's how I vote here in Chicago.

As I did when I lived in Minnesota and then Massachusetts—paper mark -in ballots (either bubbles or connect the arrow line) inserted into opti-scan machines.

With the exception here that if you vote early (not on Election Day) you will have to use a computer-screen system. That is because early voting is done not precinct by precinct but at early voting centers across the city. There are hundreds of different ballots depending on your exact location, especially because of judicial races that involve different circuit court races, etc. It is too complicated to have dozens of different paper ballots to hand out, I guess, so in this case you will have to use an electronic machine that provides the proper ballot for your precinct.

As for mail-in ballots, I think people are naive in thinking they are sacrosanct. You honestly don’t know what happens to them once they leave your hands: an unscrupulous worker can post that it has been received and recorded, and then throw it in the trash. Perhaps unlikely, but very possible. Also, if your ballot does get waylaid by the post office, or you didn’t put the proper postage on it (an issue in the recent California primaries), or if someone decides your signature is not right—there may not be time to correct the situation.

Early voting is great for candidates to bank votes, but there are problems too. Say a person votes for a candidate 3 weeks before the election, and then 6 days before the election a scandal breaks or some information that hadn’t been considered is revealed. Too late.

That’s why if at all possible, I vote on Election Day, at my precinct, on a paper ballot inserted into an opti-scan machine.