Constitutional Law

Pa. Voters Bring Lawsuit To Require Distribution of Paper Ballots

Pennsylvania voters have lodged a lawsuit against state officials to ensure that voters will have access to paper ballots in case voting machines breakdown on Election Day. The voters, represented by the NAACP State Conference of Pennsylvania and the Election Reform Network, argued in their lawsuit, filed yesterday, that there is a “well-established history of widespread electronic voting machine failures ….” According to the lawsuit, based on recent history, 10 to 20 percent of the state’s voting machines will malfunction on Election Day. The lawsuit specifically seeks a federal injunction against an order from the Secretary of State that paper ballots will only be provided when all the machines malfunction. “If left unchanged, this standard will place an undue burden on voters across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Jonathan Abady, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on October 24, 2008 (boomark / email).