Increased Use of Paper Ballots, Electronic Poll Books Could Boost Election Security

A significant shift toward paper ballots and paper records of electronic votes to more easily audit election results, as well as electronic methods to verify registered voters when they show up to vote, could be a boon in preventing election security, said Donald Palmer, chairman of the federal Election Assistance Commission.

These developments also align with a broader push for election integrity from President Donald Trump.

New data from the 2024 Election Administration and Voting Survey report, released this week, indicates that nearly every election jurisdiction in the United States now employs paper verification for ballots. Specifically, more than 98% of local election offices utilized voting equipment that either requires voters to mark a paper ballot or is capable of producing auditable paper records of votes cast electronically or by other means.

“Our paper-based system is really moving toward 100% for equipment to mark paper ballots,” Palmer told The Daily Signal. “It’s a record that allows a thorough audit.” 

This commitment to paper trails was underscored in May when the Election Assistance Commission voted to issue a policy favoring paper ballots for auditing purposes.

The increasing reliance on paper records resonates with an election integrity executive order in March from Trump that included a provision promoting voter-verifiable paper ballot records over barcode-only systems. Voter-verifiable means that a voter can see a paper record of his vote and confirm that the machine correctly registered his vote.

The Trump White House pointed to countries such as Germany and Canada that require paper ballots for vote tabulation and contrasted this with the United States’ more varied approaches that risk raising questions about the chain of custody for ballots.

Several forms of voting equipment create a paper record of votes, according to an Election Assistance Commission report. 

“The use of voting equipment that uses paper ballots or produces a paper record, including direct electronic recording (DRE) devices with a voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT), ballot marking devices (BMD), scanners that tabulate paper records marked by voters or by BMDs, and hand-counting of paper ballots, increased compared to 2022,” the report says.

It also states that the use of direct electronic recording equipment that didn’t include a voter-verified paper audit trail decreased and that nearly 100% of jurisdictions in the Election Administration and Voting Survey used voting equipment that uses a paper ballot or produces an auditable paper record of voters’ choices.

Beyond paper ballots, electronic poll books represent another significant stride in preventing voter fraud, according to Palmer, the Election Assistance Commission chairman. While most voting jurisdictions have historically relied on paper poll books that have a list eligible voters for poll workers to check against when individuals check in to vote, electronic versions of those poll books—typically laptops or tablets containing the same information—are gaining traction.

The 2024 Election Administration and Voting Survey found that 39.9% of election jurisdictions used electronic poll books in the last election, marking the highest reported adoption rate to date. 

“That’s a significant protection against voter fraud. People can swipe their license,” said Palmer, a former head of the Virginia State Board of Elections and former director of elections for Florida who was nominated to the Election Assistance Commission by Trump in 2018 and assumed the chairmanship this year.

In the 2020 presidential election, jurisdictions in 38 states used the electronic poll books. In 2024, it increased to jurisdictions in 41 states. 

Electronic poll books can effectively guard against attempts at double voting, more quickly verify a voter’s identity, and reduce errors, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. 

However, the Election Assistance Commission acknowledges security issues. 

“With electronic poll books, the debate on both sides has been about integrity versus security,” Palmer said. “I’ve been an election official in Virginia and Florida, and I think it’s great for the integrity of elections. I do think it needs to be tested.”

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