Quite a few countries (notably the USA) use voting machines.

Coming from Germany, where voting machines are not used, I wonder why voting machines are preferred over paper ballots, particularly seeing that there is some doubt about their security (see e.g. Are votes in electronic voting machines always manually counted? and Countries banning electronic voting machines ).

• The obvious benefit is that the work of counting the ballots is eliminated - however, the benefit seems small to me. I have staffed polling stations myself (in Germany, polling stations are staffed by volunteers), and the main problem is staffing the polling station during the opening hours (8-10 hours). Counting the ballots only takes about an hour, so the amount of (volunteer) labour saved seems negligible.

• Another benefit would be that there is no need to print and transport paper ballots. However, buying, maintaining, transporting and installing the voting machines is probably a similar amount of work and cost, so again no obvious benefit.

• Finally, a voting machine produces results immediately, while counting takes time. However, again, the couting probably takes an hour or two, so the delay seems negligible.

So what is the appeal of voting machines over paper ballots?

Quite a few countries (notably the USA) use electronic voting machines for casting ballots during elections.

Coming from Germany, where electronic voting machines are not used, I wonder why they are preferred over paper ballots, particularly seeing that there is some doubt about their security (see e.g. Are votes in electronic voting machines always manually counted? and Countries banning electronic voting machines ).

• The obvious benefit is that the work of counting the ballots is eliminated - however, the benefit seems small to me. I have staffed polling stations myself (in Germany, polling stations are staffed by volunteers), and the main problem is staffing the polling station during the opening hours (8-10 hours). Counting the ballots only takes about an hour, so the amount of (volunteer) labour saved seems negligible.

• Another benefit would be that there is no need to print and transport paper ballots. However, buying, maintaining, transporting and installing the electronic voting machines is probably a similar amount of work and cost, so again no obvious benefit.

• Finally, an electronic voting machine produces results immediately, while counting takes time. However, again, the couting probably takes an hour or two, so the delay seems negligible.

So what is the appeal of electronic voting machines over paper ballots?