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Published online 15 September 2004 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news040913-12

News

Electronic voting sparks contention

Touch-screen voting machines are causing controversy in the build-up to November's US presidential election. Could faulty or sabotaged machines swing a closely contested result? news@nature.com investigates.

What is electronic voting?

The machines stirring up a storm are officially dubbed direct recording electronic (DRE) machines. Instead of marking or stamping votes on a piece of paper, voters touch a screen and a computer records and tallies their votes electronically.

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