Paper ballot secrecy

Considering all the concerns about computer voting, this story is aggravating.

Santa Clara County doesn't want you to know you don't have to vote on a touch-screen machine next month. You can vote by paper if you choose, and poll workers should be telling you that upfront.

Instead, Santa Clara and apparently other counties with electronic systems are instructing poll workers to acknowledge the paper option only if voters explicitly ask about it. That policy made two poll-worker trainees who contacted us feel like they're under a gag order not to tell people about their rights.

California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley mandated the paper option because it will be at least a year before electronic voting machines in California can spit out a paper stub letting voters verify the choices that they made on a touch screen.

I'll ask for a paper ballot as a matter of principle, largely to protest the Santa Clara County policy. Also, the more people who ask for paper ballots, showing their concerns regarding computer voting, the more pressure the government will feel to address those concerns.

California voters can have a positive impact by who they vote for (Democrats) and how they vote (paper ballots).