Its been a while since I looked at the Secretary of State's Handbook on the Oregon mail voting system (http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/Publications/vote.pdf), but it seems to me that adding a return reciept mechanism would be a trivial electronic exercise. The handbook requires that the outer envelopes be kept as a "poll record", serving a similar function to the polling book I sign each time I vote in PA. This record is open to public inspection (who voted is not a secret) and any voter may request a confirmation that his vote arrived and was processed. Using a bar code on the outer envelope and including a "reciept" card with the decoded number would allow the scanned codes to be automagically recorded when the outer envelope is processed and anyone could get confirmation by entering their reciept number on the web. If any group suspects the kind of frauds suggested (loosing ballots on the way to the count), it is possible, even now, to get a sufficiently large group of people who voted to ask for confirmation. Since the records are public, an individual need only compile a list of people who claim to have voted and confirm them. John
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