Court Will Hear Challenge to Philly’s Voting Machines
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today will hear a legal challenge to the electronic voting machines used in Philadelphia and 49 other counties across the state.
The machines are called direct recording electronic, or DRE, and with a press of a button or turn of a wheel voters can choose the next governor or congressman, with choice recorded directly into the machine’s memory. Advocates says there’s a problem.
“You can’t verify that the result at the end of the day is what was put in, because there’s no independent record of what the voters’ choices were,” says Marian Schneider, part of a team of attorneys representing two dozen plaintiffs who claim DREs violate state law
She says the paperless machines are unable to maintain physical record of each vote, as well as a statistical recount of a random sample of ballots.
Lower courts have ruled against the challenge. The Supreme Court hears the case today at Philadelphia City Hall.
