Slow TechSlow Tech

Some government officials are suddenly gun-shy about high-tech voting--in Silicon Valley, of all places.

Jesse Durazo, Santa Clara County's registrar of voters, was due to ask county supervisors late last week to delay an electronic-voting pilot scheduled for November. He cites this month's touch-screen fiasco in Florida, where fingers have been pointed at technical issues and human error.

University of Maryland professor Ben Shneiderman, an expert in computers and human interaction, says it all goes to show how carefully technology must be put to public use.