After several years of political wrangling, a bill that would bring a paper trail to the state’s electronic voting machines has cruised through the legislative process this year.

The proposal’s funding is still up in the air.

The House of Delegates voted unanimously last week to approve the measure (H.B. 18) that would require all voting machines in Maryland to produce a voter-verifiable paper record of an individual’s ballot in time for the 2010 gubernatorial election. A similar bill passed the House in 2006, but failed in the Senate.

Senators were expected to debate a similar bill (S.B. 392) during a late-afternoon floor session Monday. Both bills call for a voter-verifiable paper trail, but the Senate bill is an emergency bill, meaning it would take effect immediately upon the governor’s signing of the legislation.

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House Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Sheila Hixson, D-Montgomery, the sponsor of the legislation, said this year’s bill did not specify the type of voting machine equipment the state would have to purchase to comply with the new record requirements. Instead, Hixson said, those decisions would be left up to the State Board of Elections.

In past years, similar proposals have caused controversy between the governor and the Legislature, and among lawmakers themselves. A disastrous primary election last fall further fueled calls from some Republican lawmakers, including then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich, for a voter paper trail. Without the technology, Republicans and Democrats alike encouraged voters to vote absentee, a move that overwhelmed many local election boards.

But even without the controversy over the idea of a voter paper trail, Gov. Martin O’Malley must still come up with the estimated $15 million to $20 million needed to purchase new equipment to create the verifiable paper ballots. Options for creating the voter paper trail include the addition of printers to the state’s existing touch-screen machines, or the purchase of new optical scanning machines.

stracy@baltimoreexaminer.com