tom_thinks
Monday, August 09, 2004
Lawsuit for Paper Trail Dismissed
A state appeals court dismissed a lawsuit that sought a paper trail for Florida's new touchscreen voting machines, ruling Friday that voters are not guaranteed "a perfect voting system."
U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., had argued that the new machines will not allow for an accurate manual recount -- such as the one needed during the 2000 presidential election fiasco. He sued Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood and Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore to force them to add a paper trail to the computerized machines.
Wexler's state lawsuit was dismissed Friday, but he is pursuing a similar complaint in federal court.
State officials say Friday's ruling proves again that Florida's new multimillion-dollar touchscreen voting machines will fix the problems seen with paper ballots.
"Florida's voters should have confidence that their vote will count on Election Day," said Alia Faraj, a spokeswoman for Hood.
The appeals court, upholding a lower-court ruling, found that using a paperless voting system does not severely restrict the right to vote.
This is ridiculous. The proponents of these machines are constantly saying that is the doubters who are causing the doubt. But without recounts how can anyone be sure of the election results. At this rate, Clinton might be our last elected president.
