State NAACP and Election Reform Network Win in Court on Major Procedural Change for Emergency Paper Ballots Statewide

A federal judge in Philadelphia ruled late Wednesday that emergency paper ballots must be made available when fifty percent or more voting machines fail at polling locations across Pennsylvania. Judge Harvey Bartle III ruled that delays caused by voting machine breakdowns could otherwise leave voters disenfranchised. 

"The evidence, not surprisingly, demonstrated that DRE (direct-recording electronic) voting machines, like all other machines, sometimes fail," Bartle wrote in his ruling. 

The judge concluded: "We find there is a real danger that a significant number of machines will malfunction throughout the commonwealth, and this occurrence is likely to cause unacceptably long lines on Nov. 4."

The ruling was issued in favor of the plaintiffs: the NAACP State Conference, the Election Reform Network and four individual voters who saw long lines and machine breakdowns during the April 22 Primary. 

Their compelling - and winning - argument was simply that voters could be disenfranchised by having to wait hours in line due to voting machine breakdowns.  Plaintiffs presented testimony at an eight hour hearing yesterday that voters had faced long lines caused by voting machine problems during the primary election in Pennsylvania in April, particularly in low-income minority neighborhoods.

The situation in Cheltenham Precinct 4-1, in which both machines failed to operate and a line of some 200 voters resulted, was highlighted in testimony.  Emergency ballots were, in fact, eventually issued - a first in Montgomery County - but only after a large number of frustrated voters left without exercising their right to vote.

"This is a huge victory for the voters of Pennsylvania", said John Bonifaz, legal director for Voter Action and co-counsel for the plaintiffs. "This ruling will ensure that many voters across Pennsylvania will not be disenfranchised when voting machines break down on Election Day."

The lawsuit followed numerous reports during Pennsylvania's April primary of long lines when electronic voting machines became inoperable at their polling sites.  Voters called national election protection hotlines on primary day, including 866-MYVOTE1, reporting that election officials were not providing emergency paper ballots when voting machines malfunctioned.  Callers stated that voters were told either to wait in line - sometimes for hours - or to come back later to vote.  The reports revealed that many voters across the state left their polling locations without casting their votes.

The plaintiffs were represented by Voter Action, a national voting rights organization, the law firm of Emery Cell Brinckerhoff & Abady, and the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia.

See Voter Action Press Release.  See The Philadelphia Inquirer story.