For the next decade, about a third of all votes were cast on direct recording electronic machines. These electronic voting machines store the votes in their memory. This shift reflected election officials’ growing concerns about foreign interference in elections and the need to have some way to audit tallies. To be sure, machines are still integral to the election process even when votes are cast on paper ballots. Because there were paper ballots, however, election officials in Georgia were able to hand-count the votes and confirm Biden had indeed won the state.

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