Court: Suits Challenging Georgia Voting Machines Can Proceed

A ruling by a federal appeals court in Atlanta clears the way for two lawsuits challenging Georgia’s use of paperless electronic voting machines to move forward.

The lawsuits, filed by Georgia voters and an election integrity group, seek to bar Georgia from using the machines in future elections. In an opinion Thursday, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals did not rule on the merits of the case but rejected arguments that state officials have immunity from the suits.

The lawsuits argue that the touchscreen voting machines Georgia has used since 2002 are vulnerable to hacking and provide no way to confirm that votes have been recorded correctly because there’s no paper trail. They sought in motions filed in August to force the state to use paper ballots in the November midterm election.