Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Friday 16 august 2019
Judge: Georgia must scrap old voting machines after 2019

solid step in the right direc- cates and individual vot- nate use of an antiquated
tion. But she foreshadowed ers sued Georgia election vulnerable voting system."
a looming fight over the officials in 2017 alleging "The wisdom or legal con-
state's new system, writing that the touchscreen vot- formity of the Secretary of
that "it may be 'like 'déjà vu ing machines the state has State's selection of a new
all over again.'" used since 2002 are un- vendor's particular ballot
U.S. District Judge Amy To- secure and vulnerable to system though is not the
tenberg's order on Thurs- hacking. They had asked question now before the
day prohibits the state from Totenberg to order an im- Court," she wrote, adding
using its antiquated paper- mediate switch to hand- in a footnote that a report
less touchscreen machines marked paper ballots. last year from the National
and election management Totenberg had declined Academies of Sciences,
system beyond this year. a similar request last year Engineering, and Medicine
She also said the state must ahead of last November's recommends the use of
be ready to use hand- gubernatorial election, paper ballots because of
marked paper ballots if its and she again held back the vulnerabilities of elec-
new system isn't in place for from ordering an immedi- tronic systems.
the March 24 presidential ate switch on Thursday, Perhaps alluding to the fact
primary election. citing concerns about the that the plaintiffs have said
"Georgia's current voting state's capacity to make they plan to challenge the
equipment, software, elec- an interim switch to hand- new system in court, Toten-
tion and voter databases, marked paper ballots for berg quoted baseball leg-
are antiquated, seriously special and municipal end Yogi Berra, writing: "The
flawed, and vulnerable to elections this fall while also past may here be prologue
failure, breach, contami- working to implement a anew — it may be 'like déjà
nation, and attack," she new system. vu all over again.'"
wrote. This ruling applies only to The state, she wrote, has
Totenberg also said the Georgia, but at least parts "previously minimized,
plaintiffs would likely win at of eight other states still use erased, or dodged the is-
This May 22, 2018, file photo, shows a voter access card inserted
in a reader during voting in the Georgia primary in Kennesaw, trial, citing "the mountain paperless balloting. Using sues underlying this case."
Ga. of voter testimony showing voter registration and turn- For that reason, she wrote,
Associated Press that these vulnerabilities out data, the Brennan Cen- she devoted space in her
have a tangible impact on ter for Justice at NYU School 153-page order to meticu-
By KATE BRUMBACK ed voting system said that these voters' attempts to of Law estimated in a re- lously recounting the histo-
Associated Press after years of inaction in exercise their fundamental port this week that as many ry of the case and related
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal the face of warnings about right to cast a ballot and as 12% of voters, or around actions, or inaction, by the
judge overseeing a chal- vulnerabilities, state offi- have their vote counted." 16 million people, will vote state "to ensure transpar-
lenge to Georgia's outdat- cials have finally taken a Election integrity advo- on paperless equipment in ency for the future."
November 2020. Both sides in the case saw
Georgia's new system , fol- victory in Totenberg's order.
lowing specifications ap- "(W)e are pleased the
proved by the Republican- Court endorsed the poli-
led state legislature, was cy decisions of the state's
certified last week by Sec- elected officials to move to
retary of State Brad Raffens- a new paper ballot voting
perger, who said it will be in system in time for the 2020
place for the primaries. The elections while not disrupt-
state's $106 million contract ing the 2019 elections,"
with Denver-based Domin- Raffensperger said in an
ion Voting Systems includes emailed statement. "These
new touchscreen voting activist plaintiffs continue
machines that print a pa- fruitlessly attempting to
per record with a code force their preferred policy
that's read by a scanner. outcomes on Georgia vot-
The plaintiffs in this lawsuit ers without success."
have said the new ma- Marilyn Marks, executive
chines have many of the director of the Coalition for
same vulnerabilities as the Good Governance, one
old ones. They also object of the plaintiffs in the case,
to the fact that the portion wrote in an email that it
of the printed record that's was important that Toten-
read by the scanner is a QR berg "recognized Plaintiffs
code, not human-verifiable concerns about the State's
text, meaning voters have plan to move to another
to trust that the code ac- form of electronic voting —
curately reflects their selec- electronic ballot marking
tions. devices." The voters' right to
Totenberg praised the leg- accountable elections re-
islation providing for a new quires hand-marked paper
system as "an essential step ballots counted by optical
forward out of the quag- scanners with thorough au-
mire, even if just to termi- dits, she wrote.q