Electronic voting machine

                      Abstract
According to Election Data Services the percentage of electronic voting machines per county doubled between 1998 and 2002 to 16 percent-, yet a full replacement of the traditional voting procedure is very unlikely. In its essence, an electronic voting machine is a computer assisted self-interviewing device (CASI) giving the voter the opportunity to review and change his/her vote before submitting it. The different types of voting machines allow for different kinds of interaction, such as using a touch screen technology, using a dial wheel, touching a paper panel, or pressing a button on an LCD screen. Each machine provides feedback for blank ballots and under-voting and prevents selecting more choices than the maximum allowed. Some machines even have advanced functions such as increasing the font for visually impaired voters and/or allowing for listening of the voting options rather than reading. The common features electronic voting machines share with CASI and ACASI devices allow for theoretical and empirical predictions of the advantages and disadvantages this technology can provide. The paper presents an overview of the different types of voting machines and based on established theories and results from CASI and ACASI studies, examines and compares characteristics of the machines currently used and computer-human interaction mechanisms, their potential effects, and unexplored applications. Furthermore, possibilities such as prediction of candidates’ name order effect, already existing in the literature, and computer literacy effect on voting are discussed