Voted with real paper ballot today

Today I voted using a real paper ballot which I placed in a real ballot box.

At my local voting precinct things were a little busy when I arrived this morning, there were about 8 people in line to get to the check in table and then there was a line with about 10 people who were waiting to use one of the three electronic black box voting machines.  

Behind the line of people waiting to use the electronic voting machines was a small table with a ballot box and a place for a voter to fill out a paper ballot.   There was no line for the paper ballot / ballot box voting station. 

When I reached the check in table with election workers, they handed me a paper form and asked me to write my name, address, and to sign this paper form using a black ink pen.

Then the election workers wanted to see my voter registration card and driver's license, both of which also happen to be ink printed on paper.

Next, I moved to the worker who had the voter registration book, they found my information in the book, the pages again were ink printed on paper, and I was asked to sign my name in black ink next to my name on the page.

Now, instead of moving to the end of the line for the electronic black box voting machines I requested and received a paper ballot, it was just one page with four races;
1)  US presidential race
2)  US house of representatives race
3)  TN state senate race
4)  TN state house of representatives race. 

Using a black pen, I filled in the box next to the candidates name I was voting for in each of the four races, this took approximately 10 seconds.  Next, I removed the stub section from the bottom of the ballot, handed that to the election worker.  Next, I folded my ballot, placed it in an envelope and sealed the envelope.  Finally, I dropped the envelope with my ballot into the slot at the top of the ballot box.

The voters who are using electronic black box voting machines are separated from their vote by a complex layer of electronics, software, firmware, and hardware.  It is not possible to verify a vote with an electronic black box voting machine.  

To make people feel better about the black box electronic voting machines, some claim to have a paper trail.  The term "paper trail" is used to make people feel more comfortable about using these electronic devices.  The problem is that there is still a complex layer of electronics and software and hardware and firmware placed in between the voter and this so called paper trail, and therefore the vote still cannot be verified and is susceptible to manipulation, errors, and hacking. 

A hand counted paper ballot system is fast, simple, secure.  It is straightforward, simple, and easy to verify a vote with a paper ballot.