Colorado lawsuit over voting machines is.....

dismissed.

:mad:

Sorry there is no link. It was on the front page of yesterday's Canyon Courier (an Evergreen Colorado paper), and I thought sure they'd have it on their website, but.. nooooooo...... Grrrr...

So, I will hand type a bit of it, because this is important:

"But accuracy of machines remains at issue in lawsuit"

A lawsuit against Jefferson and eight other Colorado counties over use of direct-recording electonic voting machines was dismissed last Friday by a Denver district judge.

But the counties are not entirely in the clear, as the case against Secretary of State Gigi Dennis regarding her certification of the machines is still pending.

snip...

The nonprofit organization Voter Action is representing Colorado residents in asserting that equipment approved by Dennis is unreliable and not secure. The suit, filed June 1, further claims Dennis did not comply with Colorado statutes in performing adequate independent testing of machines before approving them for purchase by counties. Before Dennis, the machines were approved by federal officials.

snip...

Renee Nelson, chairman of the Jefferson County Republicans, said that a paper trail is needed, but there is concern that votes are in numerical order on the tape, so it's possible to trace how individuals voted. Nelson also said the security of electronic voter records is questionable. "As far as I've seen, pretty much anybody can hack into any computer," she said.

From the VoterAction.org update I received in email yesterday. They filed the litigation:

"Colorado
After a lengthy hearing in Denver on Friday, July 19, 2006, Colorado District Court Judge Lawrence Manzanares ruled that the Plaintiffs have stated viable claims against Colorado Secretary of State Gigi Dennis and could proceed against her. The judge dismissed the claims against the Defendant Counties and County Clerks. The lead attorney for the Counties stated that the Counties would honor any order of the Court, even though they might no longer be parties to the case. With this understanding, having the Counties out of the case simplifies and focuses the issues.

Judge Manzanares stated that he was going to hear evidence on whether the Secretary had followed the law and her own regulations in certifying the subject DREs. The judge will allow discovery against the Secretary and will hold an evidentiary hearing on August 28 at 8:30 a.m. in Denver District Court.

The August 28 hearing date allows more time to discover and digest information about the Secretary’s certification process and the material supplied by the DRE manufacturers, particularly as to security and Independent Testing Authority issues. The hearing is now set for two days. We remain optimistic that the court will act to protect the integrity of Colorado elections and Colorado citizens’ individual voting rights."