Voter Action Press Release
COALITION OF VOTERS AND CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT IN PENNSYLVANIA SEEKING EMERGENCY PAPER BALLOTS
Oct 23 2008 | PLAINTIFFS CLAIM VOTING MACHINE BREAKDOWNS AND LONG LINES WILL DISENFRANCHISE VOTERS
‘A PERFECT STORM’ IMPACTING THE RIGHT TO VOTE
PHILADELPHIA, PA – A coalition of Pennsylvania voters and civil rights groups, led by the NAACP State Conference of Pennsylvania, filed a lawsuit today in federal court in Philadelphia seeking to ensure that voters receive emergency paper ballots on Election Day when 50% or more voting machines become inoperable at any polling site in the state. The lawsuit, filed against Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortés, alleges that voters will be disenfranchised when they face the burden of having to wait hours in line, due to voting machine breakdowns, in order to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
“In Pennsylvania this year,” the complaint states, “an unprecedented interest in voting, a record number of newly registered voters, and a well-established history of widespread electronic voting machine failures have converged to create a perfect storm that, left unaddressed, unquestionably will result in the disenfranchisement of substantial numbers of citizens.”