I usually lurk as well, but wanted to respond to your question.
There's so much debate for one simple reason. All the known solutions
have been ignored. This is why everyone is getting so upset on this
issue. Companies like Diebold have ignored all the previous work on
this subject, work done by people like Bruce Schneier. They've ignored
all the problems with their system, up to and including their complete
lack of verifiability. They're already, in a rather short history in
this field, shown a complete lack of accountability (think the various
unapproved revisions that got them sued in California).
That they've been so determined to weasel around the _known_ solutions
to these issues casts a great deal of suspicion on them. Their
continued resistance to even the simplest fixes, combined with their
repeated denials of any problems, is only making things worse.
Unfortunately, I don't see any major changes to this happening until
some state's electoral votes go to CowboyNeal or Bill the Cat...
Ryan (Not speaking for Dell in any way, shape or form)
"Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods."
-- H. L. Mencken