VOTING REFORM NOT UNTIL 2012. Another strange effect of the earlier primary schedule: House Democrats say they've given up on the idea that electronic voting systems can be overhauled in time for the 2008 presidential election. Instead of switching from computerized machines to hand-marked ballots scanned optically, the new, scaled-back goal is to have all voting machines equipped with a small printer in time for the election. But critics say those printers are delicate and unreliable. Under the more modest voting bill, New York, which still uses voting booths with mechanical levers, is the only state that will have to completely overhaul its system by 2008. --Dana Goldstein
