Group: State claim in paper ballot suit ‘ridiculous’

Switching to paper ballots before November’s election is the only way to ensure voting is secure and accurate, say plaintiffs trying to convince a federal judge that Georgia needs to discard its electronic voting machines.

Voting integrity advocates submitted the court filing Monday in their lawsuit aiming to prevent the state from using its 27,000 touchscreen machines, which they say could be hacked without a trace.

Attorneys for some of the plaintiffs wrote that it was “utterly ridiculous” for the state government to suggest changing to paper ballots would cause chaos.

“The only change that a voter will notice as a result of this change is that, rather than touching an electronic screen, the voter will use a felt-tip pen to record his or her vote on a paper ballot and will place the paper ballot in a secure ballot box,” according to attorneys for the Coalition for Good Governance, an organization seeking transparent and verifiable elections.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s attorneys had warned this month that imposing paper ballots less than three months before the Nov. 6 general election could cost more than $13.4 million and lead to voter confusion, increased wait times and suppressed turnout. Kemp is a Republican running for governor against Democrat Stacey Abrams.

But state law allows paper ballots if electronic voting machines are compromised, wrote attorneys for a group of plaintiffs. And paper ballots are already used by voters who submit absentee ballots by mail.

“The mere fact that the ‘election machinery is already in gear’ is no justification to tread on voters’ rights by forcing them to use a system that is admittedly unreliable,” their court filing states. “Defendants’ only reason for not securing Georgia’s elections is that it is not the way things have been done.”

The plaintiffs also questioned the government’s estimate of the cost of switching to paper because it didn’t account for savings from eliminating electronic machines. They said the state could use $10.3 million in federal grant money for the switch.

The court filings came in response to a request from U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg for the parties to address the feasibility of changing the system less than three months before the election.

Totenberg is considering whether to issue an injunction that would require Georgia’s 6.7 million registered voters to use paper ballots.

There’s no evidence that hackers have penetrated Georgia’s voting machines or changed results, but election integrity advocates say a verifiable paper backup is needed to ensure machines are producing accurate results.

Kemp formed a commission that is evaluating options for a replacement system to be in place in time for the 2020 presidential primary. Kemp has said Georgia’s 16-year-old voting system is safe but needs to be updated.