Vote of Confidence - I was listening to Joan Kroc beneficiary NPR this weekend and I heard a story on This American Life about the differences between theory and practice, specifically when it comes to improvements in voting machines. Most of us think of lever machines or punch-card ballots as antiquated, with the Help America Vote Act pushing states and municipalities to discard the technology. However, this report pointed out that touch-screen voting machines have problematic features of their own, especially the fact that there's no easy way to conduct a recount using them. The leading maker of touch-screen voting machines is Diebold, who already makes most ATM's. So why can't they make voting machines that print out a simple receipt allowing voters to confirm their selections and while also creating a paper trail for recounts and preventing fraud?