Plenty of states use features like watermarks on most official ballot papers (sometimes with express exceptions for ballots submitted by overseas citizens and voters with disabilities), but Alabama says it’s the first with security emblems invisible to the human eye and detectable only with specialized equipment.  (I guess we’re not counting Cochise’s lapsed pilot program…)

I’m not aware of a known problem with counterfeit paper ballots, though the notion has certainly featured in some past conspiracy theories.  I’m all for advances in ballot design that don’t limit access.  But I do wonder whether a program with security features that are specifically designed not to be visible to anyone but the government will be received by the more conspiracy-minded.