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# Votes fit to print
- URL: https://www.redeyebr.com/louisiana-election-paperless-voting-machines-election/
- Published: 2026-10-28T23:33:55.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T23:33:55.000Z
- Description: Louisiana is the only state still using paperless voting machines. A paper fix is coming.
- Author: JR Ball
- Tags: News

In a nation dominated by election fraud and conspiracy claims by President Donald Trump, it’s interesting that MAGA-loving Louisiana remains the only state still voting on paperless machines statewide. The cutting-edge fix in a world powered by technology and innovation? Paper.

**Why it matters:** East Baton Rouge voters will cast their Nov. 3 ballots on machines with no paper trail, meaning your vote is whatever the machine says it is. In a tight race, a recount asks the machine the same question twice, and the machine isn’t about to contradict itself.

**404 error:** Louisiana has tried twice to replace its new-school, old-school machines and flopped both times.

- In 2018, the state contracted for machines with a paper trail—then a rival vendor challenged the bidding, and the deal fell apart.
- In 2021, the state shelved round two after vendors challenged that process, too.
- Secretary of State Nancy Landry’s office aimed to buy a system by the end of 2025, but that deadline came—and went.

**What’s next:** The secretary of state’s office put out an [invitation to negotiate](https://www.sos.la.gov/news-events/procurement-solicitation-issued-for-new-voting-system-network?ref=redeyebr.com) Oct. 2, with a winner expected by the end of the year.

- The winning machines must keep a paper record of every ballot cast, a requirement that has been state law since 2021.
- Some parishes will get new machines in [2027](https://lailluminator.com/2026/06/16/louisiana-voting-machine/?ref=redeyebr.com), with the biggest parishes expected to go first (the state hasn’t said which), and a full switch will take two to three years.
- The tab is $100M, and $75M of it is already banked.
- The old machines are so far gone that the state [cannibalizes parts](https://www.wafb.com/2026/03/02/la-eyes-100m-voting-system-overhaul-cites-aging-machines-paper-trail-gap/?ref=redeyebr.com) from broken ones, since nobody makes replacements.

**What he said:** Louisiana is “the dinosaur of American elections,” J. Alex Halderman, a University of Michigan computer scientist, tells *Axios*.

**The bottom line:** Paper is coming to Louisiana, and the only thing left to settle is whether voters mark it with a pen or print it off a touchscreen. Such is life in our modern times.