Judge: Pa. must allow paper votes if machines fail

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Examiner.com

A federal judge has ruled that Pennsylvania election officials must make paper ballots available to voters if half the machines at a polling place break down.

The state has previously required that paper ballots only be offered if all the machines break down.

Several voter groups filed a lawsuit, saying that long lines at the polls could disenfranchise voters.

County officials believe the rule change could cause chaos, because poll workers have already been trained.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/a-1662685~Judge__Pa__must_allow_paper_votes_if_machines_fail.html

[MarjorieG]

1. Didn't think we'd get that. Great.

[livetohike]

2. I am a poll worker in PA and I think we can handle a paper

ballot :-). My polling place will only have one machine. If that fails, we are going straight to paper.

[Winterblues]

8. I don't know there is a lot of training involved in handing out a piece of paper

and collecting it back when the voter is done. I am not sure your are certified for such a complicated task..Isn't there like a four year course on that or something??:shrug: Good Luck

[livetohike]

9. It might be difficult for someone like Sarah Palin to comprehend

:hi:

[Uben]

3. Already been trained?

It's one thing to train them to flip votes on a machine, but paper? It's a friggin eraser!



/sarcasm

[pnwmom]

5. And not only that, under the old rules they had to be trained to use paper anyway

(whatever THAT involves!), in case ALL the machines broke down. All this does is lower the bar.

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

4. Tough shit, county officials. Should have planned better.

Woo Hoo to the legal team again.

[Joe Chi Minh]

6. I know it's a start, but.... why not, if one fails?

[1776Forever]

7. This is wonderful news - At least there is a chance to get it right this time.

I think they should have gone this way anyway as PA doesn't have early voting! Can you imagine the lines?

[BradBlog]

10. Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Plaintiff Demand for Emergency Paper Ballots in PA

Source: BRAD BLOG



BREAKING: Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Plaintiff Demand for Emergency Paper Ballots in PA
Ballots Must Given Out if 50% or More Voting Machines in Any Precinct Breaks Down...

This just in from Pennsylvania... a federal court has found in favor of the NAACP and the 866-MYVOTE1 Election Reform Network who were forced to sue the state's Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth, Pedro A. Cortes, after his recent directive that emergency paper ballots only need to be given to the voters in the event that all of a precinct's touch-screen voting machines failed.

Most of PA uses 100% unverifiable touch-screen voting systems, and many of them broke down across the state during last April's Primary Election, leaving untold numbers of voters unable to cast a vote.

While state law allows county clerks to give out paper ballots if just one machine breaks down on Election Day, Cortes' stunning decree, issued last month went unchallenged by both the DNC or the Barack Obama campaign...

FULL STORY http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6588

Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6588

[seemslikeadream]

11. Why

[pleah]

12. K&R

I still think we should just go back to pen and paper and get rid of these crappy machines.

[Joe Chi Minh]

13. Is it possible Obama's team were confident of the outcome?

[sonias]

14. Great news for PA!

Thank you NAACP and the Election Reform Network for defending the rights of voters !

:toast:



Sonia

[Psyop Samurai]

15. Shocked and stunned at all of these rulings...

Honestly, I've come to take the most horrendous news in stride. I have no idea how to respond to the kind of back-to-back developments we've seen of late.

I know it's become a DU joke... but at an emotional level, it is some kind of setup. I can't really celebrate any of it... just stare in amazement.

[Ms. Toad]

16. If you go to paper,

It will likely be a long time before the results are tallied...not necessarily a bad thing.

Rushing the printing of ballots sometimes leads to them being unreadable by machines. Cuyahoga County (Ohio) ran into that problem - it took weeks to count. Not pretty - but a whole lot better waiting for results than waiting in line to vote.

[quiet.american]

17. K&R nt