EFF and National Voter Rights Organizations Support Appeal to State's Highest Court
Maryland - Lawyers representing eight Maryland citizens today filed a petition with the state supreme court seeking to decertify or fix Diebold voting machines that computer security experts have deemed insecure. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), working with over a dozen organizations concerned with voting integrity, has filed a friend of the court brief supporting the suit. Groups signing on to the brief include People for the American Way, Common Cause, Center for Constitutional Rights, America's Families United, and the Verified Voting Foundation.
In Schade v. Lamone, the plaintiffs ask that the state of Maryland address widely publicized security and reliability concerns with the Diebold machines and implement a voter verified paper ballot as required by state law. In the short term, the voters are seeking an injunction that would require the state to take steps to address these concerns before the November 2004 elections, including decertifying the machines altogether. The interim steps the lawsuit asks the state to take include implementing the same 23 basic security standards that California is now implementing, and offering Maryland voters the alternative of a paper ballot if they do not wish to have their vote counted by the Diebold machines.
EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said, "The Maryland court has the opportunity to make a more secure and accurate election in November."
If the Maryland supreme court agrees to hear the case, it would be the highest court in the country to consider this issue.
Friend of the court brief:
http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/20040809_MD_Amicus.pdf
Documents in Schade v. Lamone:
http://www.truevotemd.org/petition.pdf
http://www.truevotemd.org/mandamus.pdf
Contact:
Cindy Cohn
Legal Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
cindy@eff.org
