Don't believe the hype. Electronic voting won't fix butterfly ballots, dimpled chads or W.'s presidency.

The lengthy machinations of last November's election proved one thing: that the instruments we have for measuring the people's will are not precise. Ballot recounting largely amounts to delving into statistical noise.

What probably astonished most people was the sheer range of voting systems in the U.S. Certainly it was a source of astonishment in Britain, where people were genuinely puzzled about why Americans needed anything more complicated than the simple piece of paper and stub of pencil that British voters use to choose their members of Parliament.

This article was originally published with the title No E(asy) Cure.

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