Compass reports that the Knox County Election Commission has decided to move to voter verifiable optically scanned paper ballots in time for the Aug. 2020 general election.

Compass quotes Election Administrator Cliff Rodgers as saying that fears raised by Russian attempts to hack the 2016 election prompted the Republican and Democratic parties, the League of Women Voters, the media and others to call for at least a paper trail to verify electronic voting. Instead of just a paper trail, Knox County will switch to paper ballots.

Kudos to Election administrator Cliff Rodgers and the Knox County Election Commission for making elections more secure. More at Compass (subscription required).

Unfortunately, Blount County recently announced that they are also replacing their cumbersome dial-operated machines (the same machines being replaced in Knox County) with touchscreen voting machines. These machines are more error prone in terms of registering voter intent and do not have any voter verifiable or auditable paper trail.

One concern of paper ballot systems is the cost of printing and storing paper ballots. According to the Compass report, Election Administrator Cliff Rogers is more concerned about "a secure system that people have confidence in." Sadly, election officials in Blount County do not share this view.