House drops voting machines

Maryland’s House voted yesterday to abandon electronic voting machines that don’t print receipts, setting up the possibility that Marylanders will return to pens and pencils instead of electronic screens this fall.

The bill, which passed 137-0 with little debate, prohibits the use of Diebold voting machines in this year’s elections amid concerns from both parties that the machines don’t provide paper receipts that could be counted by hand in case of a contested election.

The measure now heads to the Senate, where its fortunes are less clear. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, D-Calvert, has questioned the wisdom of...