Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis ruled that a lawsuit filed by the Texas Democratic Party and two Dallas County voters regarding the manner in which the county’s iVotronic voting system counts straight ticket ballots had merit and should be decided by a three-judge panel.

From the TDP’s press release:

The lawsuit was filed in response to an ongoing problem with the way electronic voting machines count “emphasis votes” in apparent conflict with state law, which is different from the way they are counted on other voting systems. Specifically, the iVotronic machines (1) sometimes record a voter selecting a candidate’s name as not voting for that candidate (described by the vendor and Secretary of State as “deselection,” a term not found in the Texas Election Code); (2) the final image a voter sees before casting a ballot shows a straight-ticket choice even though such choice will not be recorded as a vote for “deselected” candidates; and (3) during a manual recount, a vote is not recorded for all the nominees of a selected party in certain circumstances.

“In this case, the State of Texas and Dallas Co. approved an electronic voting system that changed the way straight ticket votes are counted and did not seek approval for that change under the Voting Rights Act,” explained Boyd Richie, Texas Democratic Party Chairman.

Richie noted that this week in testimony before the House Elections Committee, as they have in litigation, the Secretary of State’s office has defended electronic voting machine vendors instead of assuring voters’ choices are accurately recorded.

“Unfortunately, the Texas Secretary of State’s office is letting the tail wag the dog by interpreting the law to accommodate the way vendors program electronic machines instead of protecting Texas voters,” Richie continued. “This isn’t a Democratic or Republican problem; it’s about making sure every vote is counted correctly.”

Richie pointed out that a December 6, 2008 Ft. Worth Star Telegram editorial offered a common sense suggestion on the problems caused by the iVotronic issue: “Why this problem could not have been foreseen and, indeed, corrected is beyond our comprehension. Surely the machines could have been programmed to treat the electronic ballot the same as the paper one in the way a vote is counted.  The blame lies with election officials for allowing such a flawed system to be used in the first place.”

“In the 21st Century, surely technology exists to assure that votes cast on electronic voting machines clearly reflect a voter’s intent to protect the value of every vote.”

Richie said.  “Instead of pursuing a nonexistent voter impersonation problem with a bogus Voter ID agenda, this electronic voting machine flaw is a real problem that our state and local governments can solve.”

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