Georgia voters suing to switch to paper ballots win appeal

Case will continue; new voting systems are being looked at.

A federal appeals court has upheld a judge’s ruling that said Georgia’s electronic voting system poses a “concrete risk” to secure elections.

The decision Thursday from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allows the voting system lawsuit to move forward.

The plaintiffs, who are election integrity advocates and concerned voters, want U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg to switch Georgia’s statewide voting system to hand-marked paper ballots.

Totenberg ruled in Sep- tember that the plaintiffs will likely succeed in the lawsuit, but she denied their request to immediately switch to paper ballots so close to November’s midterm elec- tions.

“Now we can get past the defendants’ delays and move forward with the case on the merits and get the relief Judge Totenberg already ruled we’re entitled to,” said David Cross, an attorney for Georgia voters who sued. “This appeal was mer- itless from the start.”

A spokeswoman for Geor- gia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the ruling “simply means that the case will continue.”

The appeals court’s ruling rejected assertions that state election officials have immu- nity. The court also found that it didn’t have jurisdic- tion at this point in the case to address claims that the plaintiffs lack standing to sue.

The case now returns to Totenberg’s court, where Cross said he will seek to move quickly toward a trial.

Meanwhile, the Georgia General Assembly is considering buying a new voting system. One option includes touchscreens that print paper ballots. Another would involve paper ballots that voters bubble in by hand. Both systems would use optical scanning machines to tabulate votes.

“The Secretary of State’s Office encourages legislators as they create a bill to consider all possible risks that could potentially be asso- ciated with any new voting systems,” said Tess Hammock, a spokeswoman for Raffensperger.