WASHINGTON - Voting activists from 16 states urged Congress on Wednesday to require electronic voting terminals to print out ballots as a way to avoid the recount battles that marred the last presidential election.

Electronic voting terminals, though easy to use, are vulnerable to glitches or manipulation and need a paper trail to ensure they are working properly, activists with the group Verified Voting said.

"Electronic voting systems produce a vote which can't be verified and can't be meaningfully recounted," said Pam Smith, nationwide campaign coordinator for the nonprofit group.

Many states upgraded to computerized voting terminals after the 2000 recount battle in Florida highlighted shortcomings in aging punch-card systems.

Election officials say the machines are easy to use and allow fewer voting errors, but computer experts say they contain many of the same security holes and programming glitches that plague personal computers.

California's top election official will decide this week whether to mothball its e-voting machines after a state panel found irregularities with systems made by Diebold Inc.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat, said he recently used e-voting terminals in a local school board election.

"They were clear, simple, easy to use, and totally unverifiable," said Holt, who sponsored a bill that would require e-voting terminals to produce a paper trail.

Holt's bill has attracted 134 sponsors since it was introduced a year ago, but Congress has not yet taken action. An aide said the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee has scheduled a hearing in May, but the House Administration Committee, which has authority over the bill, has shown no interest.

Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited.

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