~ CHECK YOUR PAPER BALLOT ~ When North Carolina voters go to the polls, they will be seeing a paper ballot when they vote. The Voter Verified Paper Ballot Protects Your Vote - Check Your Paper Ballot ! When NC voters go to the polls, they will vote on either optical scan machines, or electronic recording machines (touchscreens). With optical scan machines, the voter will mark a paper ballot which resembles a multiple choice test as used in middle schools. Then the ballot is fed into the optical scan machine and counted. Voters using Electronic machines will make their selections by touching the choices on the computer screen. Touchscreens provide a paper printout that can be checked by the voter before a ballot is recorded. This paper record will be retained by the election officials for audit and recount purposes. The State Board of Elections has provided a list of the voting machines by county with instructions on how to use the machines and check your paper ballot. Voter Instructions  Find out what voting machines your county uses, see this list of Voting Machines by County also check bottom of this page for quick look. Also see below the touchscreen machine on the left, and the optical scan machine on the right:                                                         Using the new touch screen machines: The first step- touch the screen for the language. Read the instructions and press the "view ballot" button at the bottom of the screen. Second is to touch the yellow button to view the candidates and make selections by touching the box next to the name (to deselect, touch the box again). Third, verify your vote on paper! As you vote you can review your selections on the paper printer at the left side of the machine, and make changes if needed. When you finish, press "review" at the bottom of the screen. The machine will tell you if you skipped any races, and you can go back to change your choices if you want. Press the red "vote" button above the screen or the green "press here to cast your ballot now" button on the screen. You get one more chance to go back or press the green "confirm" button on the screen to cast your vote.  Using the new optical scan machines: First you will get a ballot Next, you shades in the circle completely for your  choices on a paper ballot that resembles a multiple choice test. The voter then feeds the ballot into the scanner, which counts the votes and stores the ballot in a secure manner. It doesn't matter which side or direction you feed the ballot into the machine. The optical scan ballot is verified by the voter as they shade in their choices on the paper ballot.     List of Voting Machines by County Effective 2006: All Optical Scan/Automark (No Touchscreens) - 59 - most accessible for physically disabled and sight impaired.    Alexander, Anson, Ashe, Avery, Beaufort, Bertie, Buncombe, Caldwell, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Clay, Cleveland, Columbus, Currituck, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe,Franklin, Gaston, Gates, Graham, Granville, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Jones, Lincoln, Macon, Martin, McDowell, Mitchell, Montgomery, Nash, Northhampton, Onslow, Orange, Pasquotank, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Robeson, Rockingham, Scotland, Stanly, Stokes, Swain, Tyrell, Vance, Wake, Washington, Watauga, Wayne, Wilkes, Yadkin, Yancey   Optical Scan/Touchscreens (No Automark) - 12  - accessible to sight impaired   Bladen, Chatham, Craven, Cumberland, Dare, Forsyth, Haywood, Johnston,Lee, Moore, New Hanover, Richmond,   Optical Scan/Automark/Touchscreens - 6 - accessible to sight impaired and physically disabled on election day, sight impaired only during early voting   Cabarrus, Catawba, Iredell, Rowan, Sampson, Union   Touchscreen only - 23 - accessible to sight impaired only   Alamance, Alleghany, Brunswick, Burke, Caswell, Cherokee, Davidson, Davie, Guilford, Henderson, Jackson, Lenoir, Madison, Mecklenburg, Pamlico, Pender, Perquimans, Polk, Rutherford, Surry, Transylvania, Warren, Wilson  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The vast majority of computer science professionals support a non-electronic (i.e., paper) and voter-verified record of each voter's ballot. The Association for Computing Machinery -- the largest and most prestigious organization for computer science professionals -- adopted a public policy stance in August of 2004, supporting this position. North Carolina joins 27 other states in requiring paper ballots. http://www.verifiedvoting.org/ The North Carolina Coalition for Verified Voting is a non-partisan, state-wide grassroots advocacy organization. Contact Joyce McCloy, ncverifiablevoting@yahoo.com Website: www.ncvoter.net Breakdown of which machines counties chose at the North Carolina State Board of Elections website This article in printable format here  in pdf and here  in word format.