As a computer programmer it would be relatively easy to insert extremely cryptic code into a touch screen machine that could be activated by some combination of touching spots on the screen. I could hide the code so deep and so cryptically that no other programmer could spot it. No I/O device would be necessary to insert the code. It would already be there.

The only way we'll know that machines haven't been tampered with is for them to produce a paper receipt of the votes the voter cast and allow the voter to audit them when they are finished. They would then be placed in a secure place and available for recounts.

Don't get me wrong. Technology is a wonderful tool but has huge security holes in it. Maybe its application in voting is a bad idea.

Art