11.   But a Georgia study of optical scan voting found places with large minority populations had much higher numbers of uncounted votes than the rest of the state.

12.   It recommends all punch card and lever voting machines be replaced with optical scan voting machines immediately.

13.   Optical scan machines are opposed by advocates for the blind and disabled.

14.   The board approved three types of optical scan machines in which lasers read printed or hand-marked symbols on ballots.

15.   The rest use optical scan ballots in which voters mark circles with a pencil or pen.

16.   The rules for optical scan ballots have been written, although they still can be revised following public hearings.

17.   The study has been criticized, however, by analysts and industry officials who found electronic voting to be as reliable as optical scan.