08.11.07
Texas Democrats Challenging Electronic Voting System In Federal Court
Thank you chairman Richie and the TDP for pursuing this.
From QR:
Democrats assert that the software used with the eSlate voting machine manufactured by Hart InterCivic confuses a class of voters that attorney Chad Dunn called “emphasis voters.” Those voters choose the straight party option on the ballot but then they also vote again beside specific candidates who they wish to emphasize further. That could present a problem when voting with the eSlate system because when a voter chooses the straight party option, all the party’s candidates are automatically selected on the ballot. If a voter taps the candidate’s name again, he deselects the choice. In other words, the most enthusiastic voters could end up not having their votes count.
DMN also has a story, Texas Democrats push suit targeting electronic voting equipment.
Attorneys for the Texas Democratic Party argued in federal court Friday that its lawsuit against the state over the widely used eSlate electronic voting equipment should be heard.
Democrats say the equipment doesn’t properly record straight-party votes if a voter marks an individual candidate’s name. In those cases, a straight-party vote wouldn’t be fully tabulated, party officials say.
Also, the equipment doesn’t collect and record votes the same as other voting systems in the state and thus violates the U.S. Constitution, the Democrats allege.
[…]
“Obviously with an electronic voting system, there’s no paper, there’s no pencil,” said Kathlyn Wilson, assistant attorney general. But, she said, “the [voter] disenfranchisement that they’re claiming just doesn’t happen.”
Wasn’t it Rumsfeld that said, “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”? If the voter can’t verify their vote when they finish voting then how in the world do they know how if their vote was cast the way they intended it to be cast? That’s the question Ms. Wilson. Let the them print their finished ballot when they’re done voting, look it over and then put it in a ballot box. That will go a long way to solving this.