Federal judge bars Georgia from using electronic-only voting system in 2020

[CatWoman]

A federal judge in Georgia ruled Thursday that the state must do more to protect the security of its elections and ordered that it no longer use its electronic-only system after 2019.

“This case arises in a technology context where Georgia’s current voting equipment, software, election and voter databases are antiquated, seriously flawed and vulnerable to failure, breach, contamination and attack,” wrote U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg, who is based in Atlanta.

If Georgia cannot implement a recently approved voting system in time, the judge further ordered that the state must be prepared to return to an all-paper system, a move that she declined to mandate last year.

The lawsuit, known as Curling v. Raffensberger, was brought in 2017 by a voting-rights group, along with a handful of Georgia voters.“This is a big win for all Georgia voters and those working across the country to secure elections and protect the right to vote,” David Cross, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said in a statement. “The court ordered Georgia to finally take critical steps it has long refused to take to protect elections against interference and voters against disenfranchisement.”

Georgia is one of the few states that has electronic voting but does not produce paper receipts. According to a study released this week by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, South Carolina and Pennsylvania have committed to replacing their paperless systems by 2020.

In late July, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger said in a statement that the new system would be in place in time for the March 24, 2020, presidential primary.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/federal-judge-bars-georgia-using-electronic-only-voting-system-2020-n1042896?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_lw&fbclid=IwAR3N0zz1fKNAF6GxHZxmFpbc7N92VxKfTebdwOdPdLDIqD0wZBNQus4lMGc

[lunasun]

1. Good

[flor-de-jasmim]

2. YAY!

[brer cat]

3. Good. nt

[Wounded Bear]

4. It is so wrong to have an election that can't be audited...

there must be a paper trail of all votes cast.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread CatWoman.

[ancianita]

6. YAY! We'll see how Kemp works around THAT one!

[questionseverything]

7. no long lines with paper ballots

[mopinko]

8. yup. no "technical glitches" keeping the polls from opening, either.

assuming a paper polling book, which is going the way of the dodo, but....
i had to open a polling place w no book once. we did have the list, tho, so we just carried on and let people vote.

but you are right, no big lines. even when there is a big rush, and there are no booths, folks in a hurry are happy to plop themselves anywhere and fill out their paper ballots.

i really dont know why we dont at least hand count the top of the ticket. i know i wouldnt have loved doing it at the end of a long day, but i would have been proud to do it anyway.

[questionseverything]

10. i agree

technology should be being used to make elections transparent not to use "glitches" as excuses

the first time I saw an electronic polling book at my polling place my heart sank, so easy for a "glitch' to wipe out hundreds or even thousands of registered voters.....we have same day registration in Illinois so I don't know if it is as big a problem here?

[mopinko]

11. i'm in il, too.

same day registration would cure a lot of ills, and ought to be universal.

and yeah, i felt the same about the electronic poll book. only the knowledge of how very many trees died for those old poll books kept me from literally crying.

[questionseverything]

12. paper is the easiest thing to recycle and democracy is worth a lil paper

yes same day registration should be universal!

[hunter]

9. Hand marked paper ballots would be best.

Computer printed paper ballots are better than no paper, but not by much.

"Receipts" is the wrong word, a deliberate deception.

A paper ballot is a paper ballot, not a "receipt."