Sorry, Your Vote Will Not Be Counted At This Time: Please Try Again Later

So I did my civic duty and voted early this week. After all the build-up to this mid-term election, it felt great to vote and get it over with. It gives me a license to ignore all political chatter between now and Election Day if I want to. (Being a politcal junkie, though, I probably won't be able to). Anyway, I highly recommend this voting thing.

There is one thing, though, that is bugging me. After I finished making all my selctions on the multi-page Dallas County ballot by touching my finger to the screen, I pushed a big, red "Vote"button on the top, and that was that. What assurance do I, or any voter, have that my ballot will actually be counted, and counted correctly? None whatsoever.

I'm a big fan of technology, but anyone who has used a computer (including you, presumably, if you're reading this) knows that they malfunction frequently. I think we really need a paper back-up system in voting, even if it does slow things down.