Today's primary election is also the introduction of electronic voting machines to Utah County.

The new machines -- formally known as the Diebold AccuVote TSx -- replace the system of punchcards and chads with touch-sensitive screens and computer memory.

Each machine also comes with a printer that will create a hard copy of each voter's ballot that each voter can verify. The ballots are a backup in case there's a dispute with the electronic tally.

Not everyone is excited about electronic voting -- some critics are downright alarmed, all the more so because of documented security flaws in the Diebold voting software.

"A lot of people aren't very worried about it, and when they get to the polls, they feel very comfortable using them," said Joe Demma, chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, The Associated Press reported.

Utah County officials have said that physical security measures will protect the machines, the master voting server and the memory cards that record votes, and that poll workers have been trained to keep the balloting secure.

If concerns arise today over the security of the machines, please inform poll workers or the Utah County elections office at 851-8109. You can also contact the Daily Herald at 344-2556.

As the results are tallied tonight, results will be posted at www.utahcountyonline.com.