TEXAS CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT

1405 Montopolis Drive, Austin, Texas 78741-3438

(512) 474-5073 (phone) (512) 474-0726 (fax)

 

James C. Harrington

Director

PRESS RELEASE

October 8, 2008

 

 

APPEAL TO BE HEARD TODAY IN AUSTIN COURT OF APPEALS

ON LANDMARK VOTING RIGHTS CASE

 

(WEDNESDAY, OCT. 8, 1:30pm, Supreme Court Building)

 

The Austin Court Appeals will hear an appeal today involving the voting rights of Texans, which Plaintiffs say will have long-lasting and great impact on voting rights in Texas.

 

Voters, civil rights groups and a statewide candidate sued on June 14, 2006, in Travis County District Court to prevent the Texas Secretary of State from using unreliable electronic voting machines in future elections. Those bringing the case were Travis County voter Sonia Santana, the NAACP of Austin, its president, Nelson Linder, also a Travis County voter, and David Van Os, a former candidate for attorney general. They are represented by Austin attorney Tim Herman and Jim Harrington and Jody Barton of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

 

The Plaintiffs claim that paperless electronic voting machines often make significant errors. Some ballots essentially vanish into thin air or show a great discrepancy between the number of people who voted and the number of votes recorded. Having a paper trail makes fraud less likely. Once the voter casts the ballot, he or she has no idea what the machine actually recorded, and there is no record available in the likely case of a dispute – or a re-count for a close vote. Electronic voting machines are also "hackable" and open to fraudulent manipulation.

 

"Voters deserve the assurance their voices will be heard," said Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. "By using machines that provide no permanent record, the state is failing in its constitutional duty to provide the people with an election in which they can trust the results."

 

Thirty of the states now require their voting machines to print or use a paper ballot when voters cast their votes. Thus, voters can read the ballot to make sure it recorded the vote as intended.

 

The Secretary tried to have the case dismissed at trial court, claiming that voters had no right to challenge the use of electronic voting machines. The Secretary lost and then appealed that decision of Travis County District Judge Gisela Triana.

 

Harrington said that the appeal is a "landmark, pivotal voting rights case because it goes to the heart of whether voters ever have a right to challenge an election process. The Secretary's position is that, once her office authorizes a specific election mechanism, then voters have no recourse – no matter how bad or unreliable the mechanism is – or open to fraud. If the Court were to uphold the Secretary's position, it would be an enormous setback for voting rights in Texas – rights for which generations of Texans have struggled."

 

For further information, please contact Jim Harrington at 512-474-5073