Prevent election fraud by banning electronic voting machines, which are easily manipulated, in all federal elections.

The right of citizens to vote for government officials is one of the most sacred rights in a free society, and is the bedrock of representative democracy. However, an estimated 20 to 30 percent of voters nationwide cast their ballots using electronic machines, which have been shown to be easily hacked. Experts in the Vulnerability Assessment Team at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois have demonstrated that it only takes a little bit of cash and an 8th-grade science education to build a device that can remotely alter voting results without leaving a trace. Not only can electronic voting machines be hacked at the polling place, but as The Daily Beast points out, they can be tampered with before they arrive there and when the data is transmitted for central counting. These and similar concerns pushed the Netherlands to ban voting machines and return to paper ballots.

In addition to concerns about the technology of the machines themselves, it is also troubling that the use of these machines invites corporations to participate in the electoral process, since all machines are produced by corporations. The United States was formed with the notion that the government exists to protect and empower its citizens. This responsibility extends to protecting the transparency of elections, which can be done only when the government, media, and citizens work together to ensure it. The government has no place in privatizing such an essential element of our democracy.

In order to prevent election fraud and to ensure the transparency of our elections, electronic voting machines must be banned. By outlawing them, we pave the way for a return to paper ballots, which leave a clear trail and allow for direct public observation.