Calibration or something more sinister?

Anyone with a touchscreen device - and there are more of us all the time - know that they are not infallible and that sometimes where you touch the screen isn't always properly recorded by the device. So, it may not be the world's smartest idea to have touchscreen voting machines in situ for the US election - especially as, according to a report in Gizmodo, early voters in West Virginia have complained that when they have tried to vote for Barack Obama, the touchscreen voting machine has recorded their vote as one for John McCain. Hopefully, this is no more sinister than a case of bad calibration - easily fixed if you know how - because we would expect only fair play from the nation which goes out of its way to protect the idea and ideals of democracy. Still, if any of our US friends do find themselvces on a touchscreen voting device, it's probably best to check how your vote was recorded before you leave the booth. (Will we Australians, in our lifetime, be able to vote electronically - either at a defined voting station or over the web - or, perhaps, if not electronically, by using pens - rather than pencils - on our ballot papers?)