Governments around the world are looking at e-voting as a way of building confidence in elections and to improve voter turnout. But there are warnings that the technological solutions being presented could be worse than simple pencil and paper. We place a Sphinx-like question as being at the heart of current US controversy over electronic voting: if the purpose of an election is to choose a leader, what is the purpose of an electoral system? Our view is that the e-voting kiosks being rolled out in huge numbers across the US today do not meet this test. A cadre of respected IT specialists has come out in opposition to the use of direct recording electronic (ORE) machines and e-voting in general because they feel present systems lack sufficient credibility. In the most immediate sense, this group believes that its nation's very faith in democracy could be at stake. The fundamental flaws that American IT specialists claim to have identified go to the core of all democracy systems available today.