Judge vows quick decision in voting suit
By LARRY RAND/Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES — The federal judge hearing arguments about the legality of California touch-screen voting machines promised a decision by next Tuesday, a San Bernardino County spokesman said Friday.

David Wert said that the county told Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the U.S. District Court on Friday that Secretary of State Kevin Shelley had exceeded his authority when he banned the use of touch-screen voting machines in individual counties.

"San Bernardino County was never certified in the first place," Wert said, "so how could he de-certify us? He has the power to certify machines, not counties."

The state has reinstated use of touch-screen voting in Santa Clara, Merced, Shasta, Tehama and Orange counties, which have agreed to provide paper ballots to any voter who requests one.

Shelley was sued by groups representing disabled voters, who find touch-screen machines easy to use, and by counties including Riverside and San Bernardino, which used touch-screen machines without paper alternatives.

On Thursday, Cooper had decided not to overturn Shelley's order banning electronic voting in 14 counties, citing problems with electronic voting in the last presidential election.

Sequoia Systems manufactures the touch-screen machines involved in the suit. Shelley's ban of Diebold electronic voting machines is not being contested.