Nine weeks from today Americans will be asked to go to the polls and choose who will represent them in Congress. This election provides an important opportunity for voters to decide whether or not they want to change the direction that this country is headed in - and it is shaping up to be an exciting contest with a lot of close races.

Unfortunately, over the past two election cycles we have witnessed too many instances of irregularities at the voting booth with the advent of paperless electronic voting. And as we know too well, in a tight race, just a handful of irregularities can add up to major trouble when it comes time to decide the winner. That is why I am an advocate for and proud co-sponsor of Rep. Rush Holt's H.R. 550, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act.

H.R. 550, if passed, would require all voting machines to produce an actual paper record that voters can inspect to check the accuracy of their votes and that election officials can use to verify votes in the event of a computer malfunction, hacking, or other irregularity. Experts often refer to this paper record as a "voter-verified paper ballot."