Federal Court To Hear Lawsuit On Voting Machine Paper Trail
State Elections Chief Wanted Trial Delayed Until After Election
NBC 6 News Team

POSTED: 4:16 pm EST March 22, 2004
MIRAMAR, Fla. A congressman's federal lawsuit against the state's elections supervisors demanding a paper record from electronic voting machines will get an expedited hearing.

Rep. Robert Wexler filed the lawsuit on Feb. 27. Wexler and his co-plaintiffs, Palm Beach County Commissioners Burt Aaronson and Addie Greene, and Florida Alliance for Retired Americans President Tony Fransetta, claim that it is unconstitutional for 15 of Florida's 67 counties to have no means of conducting a manual recount in the event of an election dispute. The 15 counties use electronic, touch-screen voting machines that do not produce a paper record.

The lawsuit cites the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore, which stopped Florida's recount, essentially awarding the presidency to George W. Bush. The decision cited the "equal protection" clause of the constitution in saying that the different recount standards in different counties could produce an unfair result.

"Federal Judge Cohn has given Floridians hope that we will have a constitutional voting system that works in November," Wexler said in a statement. "I am trying to avoid another election night catastrophe. By trying this case as soon as possible, the federal court has recognized the urgency involved."

Lawyers for Secretary of State Glenda Hood and Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore had sought to delay the case until after the November election.

Concerns over the state's electronic voting machines have persisted. In the recent primary elections, some voters in Polk and Bay counties reported problems with the machines, including returning the wrong ballots or giving voters the chance to vote twice.