For the most part, I'm at peace. The politicians can carp and backbite all they want until Nov. 7, and it won't affect me one whit. I voted early.

But I must confess, I have a nagging concern that there's an 11th-hour scandal or revelation that may make me wish I'd voted differently. It's a little late in the game for such a thing to happen, but my doubts won't vanish until the rest of you vote on the traditional Election Day.

So why did I vote early? As a columnist, I felt a duty to be your canary in the coal mine.

It was even slicker than I had imagined. Except for a small initial problem getting the machine to accept my voter access card, I was off to the races, as it were. I half expected the computer screen to call up the wrong legislative districts but it worked like clockwork. When I finished, I reviewed my choices before I cast my ballot. I was in and out of the early voting location at Central City Community Center, 615 S. 300 East, in about 10 minutes.

I contrast this experience to the last time I voted under the punch card system. When I finished, I pulled out the punch card and compared it to the ballot booklet to make sure I had indeed voted for whom I intended to vote. This was a somewhat arduous task for eyes that no longer register 20/20. After an overload of the Florida voting debacle in 2000, I wanted to make sure my ballot was free of pregnant chads or even dangling chads (now that America knows what a chad is). I remember it as a stressful experience.

Voting with a touch screen, I had the option of bumping up the size of the type on the screen and adjusting the contrast. For me, it worked fine the way it was set up. Frankly, it's about as straightforward as using an automatic teller machine, with the exception that the voting kiosk didn't spit out any $20 bills or deduct anything from my checking account (the taxation issues on the ballot notwithstanding.)

For ease, I give the experience an A+.

Am I completely sold on the notion of touch-screen voting? I don't know yet. There are an awful lot of things I like about it. I like that the technology enables people with disabilities to vote without assistance. Although voting is a public activity, it is also a private matter. All Americans are entitled to that experience.

As for the accuracy and security of the election, it's too soon to say. My hope is that it goes swimmingly, but my sense is my home precinct is going to be a lot busier than the early polling location I went to Monday. I'll reserve judgment until the state conducts an audit of the balloting.

Earlier this election season, Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen visited our editorial board to answer our questions about touch-screen voting and the opportunities for Utahns to vote early. In that meeting, Swensen raised the possibility of longer waits at polling places because voters will not be familiar with touch-screen technology, and that there are fewer touch-screen machines than there were punch-card stations statewide. I'm going to venture a guess that long waits in line in polling places aren't going to be a big hit with Utah voters.