11.   Others use ballots that are marked with pencils and then scanned optically by machines, the way standardized tests like the SAT are scored.

12.   San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma and San Mateo are among those that use ballots voters write on.

13.   Sample ballots were used in the tests.

14.   Seventy-nine towns use paper ballots that are hand-counted.

15.   Some Washington counties have used mail ballots in low-turnout special elections for several years.

16.   The highest rates of discarded ballots were in counties that used paper ballots but lacked on-site optical scanning machines.

17.   They also noted that similar ballots are used around the country.

18.   This butterfly-type ballot was used in recent elections in the same county and under the same rules, and again the Democrats did not complain.

19.   Two counties still use paper ballots.