Voting Problems

So what are the lessons of learning that a major repair of electronic voting machines in Maryland in 2005 was only disclosed this week? For some reason, when I read the article, I kept thinking of America's use of private military contractors in Iraq -- i.e., for certain essential public duties, such as elections or national security, it may not be best to have private companies, with motives often divergent from the public interest, providing the services. The article also underscored the ineptitude of state elections administrator Linda Lamone -- who, as the Sun reports (hat tip to Bruce), may not be able to provide enough absentee ballots to meet demand for the election. All the more reason to vote (if you can) against Question 4, which the Post, to its credit, came out against yesterday.