Paper backups is actually a good idea. No computerized system would be safe enough...to have the entire vote reliant on it. The solution to these late counts is to permit mail-in ballots to be counted as they are received so they are accounted for on election day. Florida and Ohio mail-ins were baked into the cake, for example, at the beginning of election eve. That produced the "blue mirage" that was then brought to reality as same day votes came in. Sad...for those of us who lean blue...but we had the answer at the end of the day. Then with mail-ins in states like MI, WI, PA...and even here in NY...that could not be counted until the day after election day...it produced the red mirage that had many of us poised with razor blades dangerously close to our wrists. Those ballots are now being counted. It drags things on...but it's how various states have set things up. A simple rule change would allow for folks to be more distracted by a football team than an election. Just my opinion.