Kudos and thank yous go to Governor Richardson, both for what he has done for voters in the state of New Mexico, and today for an oped he wrote which appeared in The Hill in support of the paper ballot bill, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007.  

In the November 2004 election, many New Mexico voters were forced to vote on paperless DREs.  True to form, these machines lost votes and added votes, and generally destroyed voter confidence in the elections process.  To address the situation, the Governor proposed a plan to move the State of New Mexico to a paper ballot system.  Of course, he encountered resistance, very similar to the resistance that Members of Congress are facing today for making our voting systems reliable and secure:  "Change is bad."  It is costly.  It can't be done.  It can't be done quickly.

But with the Governor's leadership, New Mexico converted to a paper ballot system in less than a year.  This past election, the number of machine-related voting problems dropped dramatically in New Mexico.  Now we just need that kind of leadership on voting machines in Congress.  Swift.  Bold.  Decisive.