Poll books go digital.

• Author: Hubler, Katy Owens
• Position: TRENDS & TRANSITIONS

Just as technology has transformed how we manage our bank accounts and pay our bills, it is also changing how we run our elections. Increasingly, elections officials are replacing their pen-and paper poll books with electronic ones.

E-poll books look like tablets or laptop computers.

They list the names of eligible voters, like traditional poll books, but they typically save time and administrative costs of an election. With e-poll books, voters don't have to stand in an alphabetical line while a poll worker flips through pages looking up names. Instead, the poll worker types in the name and quickly gets the voter information, including precinct, ballot assignment, past address or name changes and whether he already has voted. If anyone tries to vote in the wrong precinct, poll workers don't have to sift through complicated tables or read the tiny writing on a huge map of urban precincts to find the right one. The e-poll book will identify it. In places with sophisticated e-poll book software, voters can sign in electronically to get the ballot.

E-poll books guard against fraud, since they immediately inform poll workers if someone has voted early or absentee. For greater security against voter fraud, some jurisdictions have discussed adding voter photos to the e-poll book, possibly from the motor vehicle department database...