Texas Democratic Party Sues Secretary Of State Over Electronic Voting Machines

The Texas Democratic Party has sued Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams in federal court alleging that his office has failed to require that electronic voting machines properly record and total votes, especially straight-ticket votes.

In its complaint, the party specifically addresses the eSlate voting machine, manufactured by Hart InterCivic. The party alleges:

The eSlate has demonstrated that it collects and records votes differently than other voting machines in use in the state

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Because defendant tested the eSlate before it was acquired and used, he was aware the system operated differently from other viting systems certified for use in the state.

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Each time the voter makes an individual selection by selecting a candidate for the same party as their straight-party choice, the eSlate records no vote at all for that race.

That last part is particularly alarming. In case you don’t follow the language, it means that the eSlate deselects the candidate of your choice if you vote a straight-ticket Democratic ballot and then go back and check another Democrat.

No other voting system operates this way and the party alleges that such deselection is a violation of Texas law given that, in other cases including use of paper ballots, such a double-selection would be easily interpreted as to the voter’s intent. This has disenfranchised numerous Texas voters as a significant number of Texas counties use E-Slate.
Under Texas law, every vote must count the same. As a result of the Secretary of State’s failure to require that the eSlate correctly record and tally votes, that hasn’t happened, meaning candidates across the state suffered as a result.

TDP Chairman Boyd Ritchie said the lawsuit is about protecting the integrity of the electoral process and is a bi-partisan issue:

“With this lawsuit, the Texas Democratic Party is taking steps to safeguard the accuracy and security of each voter’s ballot and ensure Texas voters have confidence in our election system,” said Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie.  “Protecting the integrity of the electoral process is not a partisan issue.  Every voter deserves to cast their ballot with full faith their voice will be heard, regardless of political affiliation.”

More info on eSlate and straight-ticket voting:

On the eSlate machines, when a voter chooses a straight-ticket vote and then continues to select candidates of the same political party to “emphasize” their vote, the machine actually records no vote.  This is inconsistent with the tabulation of absentee paper ballots, as well as electronic voting machines used in other counties across the state.  The irregularities relating to the eSlate voting system have affected the outcome at least one race, located in Madison County.  However, there are 101 other Texas counties that employed these erroneous machines in the 2006 election.

This lawsuit is exceedingly interesting. It also makes one wonder if, perhaps, the need to “get around” the problems with eSlate and straight-ticket voting is the reason behind State Sen. Jeff Wentworth’s HB 134. Through that bill, Wentworth (R-San Antonio) has proposed elemination of straight-party voting in Texas.

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