The new electronic machines are designed for disabled voters who pick their candidates by touching a colored screen. There’s also an audio component for visually impaired voters.

But even though there’s no paper involved, Placer County Registrar of Voters Jim McCauley says the Diebold machines do leave a paper audit trail.  

"What that means is that after the person has voted on these voting devices they can check and there’s actually a paper trail that shows the voter how he voted and if he agrees with that then he casts his ballot and there is a paper trail to verify how that voter voted."

The vast majority of Placer County voters will be using the optical-scan machines that have been in place there since the 2000 election. McCauley predicts voter turnout in the county will be just above 70%. He says their turnout is typically about 12 to 15% higher than the state’s.