California registrars are in the unenviable position of having the responsibility to conduct an election on June 6, but no authority to purchase a certified system.

The unintended consequence of a (paper trail) mandate could diminish, rather than enhance, voter confidence.

Democracy is not a neat process, it is a complicated process. We are seeing a lot of that 'third world country' angst in our country, with a lot of loss of confidence and concerns from the 2000 election. And I would hate to think we will end up in that same scenario of possibly feeling like we are a third world country and no one trusts the government to count the votes right.

Like I said, and we have said many times from this podium, we're just not in a position to confirm those reports,

Certainly, it is not enough just to hold an election. How that election unfolds is very important. We've called for international election observers in Egypt. So thus far, I don't think that there's been an invitation extended to observers, but this is something that we would encourage and continue to urge.

The U.N. is not going to conduct an independent review of the election results.