The Daily Times has an article about the new voting machines selected for Blount County and a Shelby County lawsuit involving the same machines.

One part of the article states:

"Knopf, along with a representative from Harp Enterprises, the company that makes the new voting equipment, fielded numerous questions and concerns from the public and commissioners on the new equipment."

Harp Enterprises, a Kentucky company, does not make the voting machines. The machines are made by Hart InterCivic, a Texas company. Harp Enterprises is just a reseller.

Hart InterCivic also made the voting machines that Blount County is getting rid of. Neither the old nor the new "black box" machines have a voter-verifiable paper audit trail.

Optical scan paper ballots are the only secure, verifiable voting systems. They are available from Hart InterCivic. Many states have adopted them. Tennessee is not one of them. Local election officials object to the cost of printing the ballots and storing them after elections.