A decision by the state Supreme Court this week denying an appeal filed by the secretary of the commonwealth clears the way for Commonwealth Court to determine whether touch-screen machines violate the state election code.
"It allows, finally, the courts to review whether the secretary of the commonwealth complied with his obligation to ensure that the Pennsylvania system of voting is reliable and safe," said Michael Churchill, an attorney for the 25 voters who sued the agency claiming the machines are flawed.
The case is the latest development in a debate being played out in courtrooms and legislatures across the country over the reliability of electronic voting machines, adopted by many states over the last six years.
Twenty states have scrapped electronic voting machines, including California and Florida. The New Jersey General Assembly passed legislation ordering elections officials to attach paper printers to 10,000 electronic voting machines.
Following a sweeping review of her state's voting systems earlier this year, Ohio's secretary of state, Jennifer Brunner, ordered all boards of elections using electronic touch-screen voting machines to have backup ballots.