Have we learned our lesson in democracy? God forbid anyone should ever weasel out of voting again with the claim that their ballot doesn't count, that it doesn't make a difference. There is almost no way the margin in the U.S. vote could have been narrower, and with the divisions elsewhere in the country, every vote counts even more.

Expect serious challenges to voting procedures in Florida and intense scrutiny of practices elsewhere. Many people claim that voting is just too hard -- not only figuring out how to work the ballot, but that the entire procedure is cumbersome and seemingly designed to discourage many qualified voters. These critics argue that we should move to Internet voting. That is easier, more convenient and better able to capture the will of the people. One company has already field-tested its software.

Of course, there are questions of fraud, security and access. In one "risks"-related mailing list, three computer security experts conclude: "The shining lure of these 'hyper-tech' voting schemes is only a technological fool's gold that will create new problems far more intractable than those they claim to solve."