New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine, citing the state's "critical economic situation and lack of appropriate technology" signed a bill into law Friday that delays a Jan 1 requirement that voting machines produce individual permanent paper records. The state has been wrestling with the question of voting machine reliability for some time.
According to media reports, the requirement if enacted, would cost around $20 million to fit 10,000 voting machines with printers. The bill just signed into law delays implementation "until the federal government supplies the necessary funds."
New Jersey Assemblywoman Joan M. Quigley sponsored the delay legislation which includes a pilot program to test the printing system.