Federal Court: Georgia Must Replace DRE Voting Systems by 2020

A federal court has ruled that Georgia must replace Direct Recording Electronic voting machines before the 2020 election. The court also ruled that Georgia must develop a contingency plan with hand-marked paper ballots with optical ballot scanners and voter-verifiable, audible ballot records. EPIC, in an amicus brief joined by 31 legal scholars and technical experts, urged the court to stop Georgia's use of Direct Recording Electronic voting machines. EPIC told the court, "the continued use of these systems poses a direct threat to personal privacy, election integrity, and democratic institutions." The court cited EPIC's brief, noting "almost from their inception, DREs have been plagued by warnings that the voting machines are unreliable, insecure, and unverifiable." Georgia's Secretary of State recently announced that the state would purchase Ballot Marking Devices but technical experts have said these devices have many of the same vulnerabilities as DRE voting machines. The case is Curling v. Raffensperger.