Besides voting on paper ballots, people in Texas vote on lever-type machines and punch card voting devices. Regardless of the device used, the secrecy of the vote must be ensured. Romans voted on tablets using a pointed stick. Political parties used to print their own ballots in different colors. In the late 1800's, we began using the Australian ballot using white paper.
Some cities have voting machines on which the voter pushes down a lever for each vote.
Some places in Texas now vote on punch cards. The votes are counted by a computer. New ways of voting are being tried. These include voting by telephone or by television connected to computers. People are constantly trying to invent new methods of voting that are cheap to build and to maintain, that are easy for the voter to use, that provide a fast and accurate vote count, and that protect the secrecy and honesty of the vote.