Voter Action Press Release

For Immediate Release: Denver, CO, September 22, 2006 – In a legal victory this afternoon in the Colorado voters’ lawsuit challenging Secretary of State’s Gigi Dennis’ cursory certification of electronic voting systems manufactured by Diebold, Sequoia, ES & S, and Hart Intercivic, the Denver District Court ordered the Secretary of State to enact meaningful security standards for electronic voting machines and retest the four systems under those standards before authorizing their use in any future elections. In his ruling, Judge Lawrence Manzanares said the Secretary of State's office failed to develop minimum security standards, as required by state law, and did an “abysmal” job of documenting the testing during its certification process. He also ordered the Secretary of State to adopt state-wide security standards before the November 2006 election, and ensure compliance by all Colorado counties using the machines.

"The Colorado voter plaintiffs and Voter Action are extremely pleased with this victory. The Court’s decision confirms that the certification process is badly broken, and this is the first step toward a solutiuon,” said Paul Hultin, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, who headed a team of lawyers from the firm of Wheeler Trigg & Kennedy LLP, in Denver, which is providing pro bono legal services in the case.

“The Court’s ruling is a victory for all voters in Colorado who are concerned about upholding the integrity of the vote. The Court’s decision is tantamount to de-certification of the four major electronic voting systems, which is what the Colorado voter plaintiffs have been fighting for. The stakes are too high, and elections too critical to turn them over to private vendors with troubled histories and no accountability,” said Lowell Finley, co-director of Voter Action and co-counsel in the Colorado case and similar voters’ lawsuits in California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico.

“Electronic voting system breakdowns have wreaked havoc in recent state primaries, disenfranchising thousands of voters and calling into question election results, “ said Holly Jacobson co-director of Voter Action. “While we are pleased with today’s verdict, the serious security flaws inherent in electronic voting technology – confirmed in a new study by Princeton University experts last week-- underscore the need for more secure and verifiable voting systems. Paper ballots do not fail to boot up and can be reliably counted, recounted and audited, which is why half the counties in the country are using them. Earlier this week, Maryland’ Governor Ehrlich called for an immediate change to optically scanned paper ballots in his state, which currently uses Diebold touch screen machines, and New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer joined the growing ranks of public officials supporting optically scanned paper ballots.

The Colorado lawsuit was filed on June 1st by a diverse group of Colorado voters, among them Democrat, Republican, Independent and Green Party members , as well as disabled voters. The litigation effort received financial, legal and logistical support from Voter Action, www.voteraction.org , a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring election integrity in the US. In 2005, Voter Action supported successful litigation in New Mexico to block the purchase and use of direct recording electronic (DRE) computerized voting systems, and is supporting similar legal actions by voters in Arizona, California, New York, and Pennsylvania, with plans for Ohio in the near future. Voter Action is a project of the International Humanities Center, a 501(c) (3) organization.
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Media Contact: Holly Jacobson, Co-director, Voter Action, www.voteraction.org, (206) 769-7185, Connie Proulx, Wheeler Trigg Kennedy LLP, (303) 244-1919, or Emma Mackinnon, FENTON, (646) 623-7998,
IM emmaatfenton.