Groups want paper ballots as backup in PA

Lawsuit claims machine breakdowns in spring make fallback essential in state.

By Maryclaire Dale | Of The Associated Press
October 24, 2008

Several voter rights groups filed suit Thursday seeking emergency paper ballots for Pennsylvania voters if electronic machines break down.

The groups want paper ballots to be available on Election Day if more than half of the voting machines at a given polling place malfunction. Otherwise, voters will be left to endure long lines, they said.

''People should be able to exercise their right to vote without waiting in line for hours or being told to go home and come back later,'' said John Bonifaz, legal director of Voter Action, a national advocacy group that is one of the plaintiffs.

The groups focused on Pennsylvania because of problems reported in the spring primary and a recent state directive that, according to the groups, says paper ballots should only be used if all machines in a polling place fail.

''We're quite concerned, in light of the confluence of high voter turnout and these voting machine breakdowns, that there will be even longer lines and more voter disenfranchisement,'' Bonifaz said Thursday.

The suit was filed in federal court in Philadelphia against Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes.

''The plaintiffs continue to seek solutions that are already in place,'' Cortes said. ''The Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors is already working properly, and county election officials remain committed to processing every valid application in a timely and efficient manner.''

Cortes said counties have been informed about identification requirements for first-time voters and have been advised to have sufficient provisional ballots on Election Day.

Other plaintiffs include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. The groups are seeking a preliminary injunction to address the situation before the election.

''Thousands of members have faced serious delays in voting when machines have broken down in the past, and this problem will be much more severe this year when unprecedented numbers of voters will be coming to the polls,'' said J. Whyatt Mondesire, the president of the

NAACP State Conference of Pennsylvania.

http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/state/all-a3_voting.6643554oct24,0,5867348.story