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U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg said in a ruling late on
Monday that while it is important for citizens to know their
ballots are properly counted, voters also must rely on a smooth
process, especially in a fast-approaching election race.
"Ultimately, any chaos or problems that arise in connection with
a sudden rollout of a paper ballot system with accompanying
scanning equipment may swamp the polls with work and voters –
and result in voter frustration and disaffection from the voting
process," Totenberg said in a 46-page decision.
The state's November contests include a gubernatorial race that
is among the most high-profile in the country. Democrat Stacey
Abrams faces Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, a
Republican, who is responsible for the state's elections and is
named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
If elected, Abrams would be the first black female governor in
the United States.
Georgia is one of five states that use touchscreen machines with
no paper record.
Voting rights groups and individual voters sued Georgia
officials in 2017, alleging that the electronic machines are
highly vulnerable to hacking and cannot be audited or verified.
The judge's decision to reject their request to require paper
ballots in November does not affect the underlying lawsuit,
which will continue.
An attorney for the plaintiffs, David Cross, said that while
they were disappointed the judge had not imposed paper ballots
for November, her decision was nevertheless a victory because
she agreed the current election system is "woefully inadequate
and insecure."
Georgia has used direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting
machines exclusively since 2002. The machines have drawn
criticism from various advocacy groups and federal agencies,
including U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials who
called the systems a "national security concern" in March,
according to Totenberg.
"Plaintiffs shine a spotlight on the serious security flaws and
vulnerabilities in the state's DRE system," Totenberg said in
the court order.
A representative from Kemp's office did not immediately respond
to a request for comment on Tuesday. Kemp on Monday said that
Georgia's electronic voting machines are secure and that
switching to paper ballots would cause "chaos," according to the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.
(This story has been refiled to correct spelling of newspaper
from Atlantic Journal-Constitution to Atlanta
Journal-Constitution in final paragraph and add party
affiliation for Brian Kemp in fourth paragraph.)
(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; Editing by Joseph Ax
and Susan Thomas)
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