Colorado Litigation Update September 28, 2006

[eleny]

COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL REACHES AGREEMENT WITH WHEELER TRIGG KENNEDY / VOTER ACTION LEGAL TEAM TO IMPROVE THE SECURITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE NOVEMBER ELECTION

Court-Ordered Emergency Security Procedures Follow On Friday Court Decision Calling Colorado Machines’ Security ‘Abysmal’

Denver, CO, September 27, 2006 – The Colorado Attorney General’s office and the legal team that successfully challenged Dennis’ certification of DRE computerized voting machines in Colorado, Wheeler Trigg Kennedy and Voter Action, today completed negotiations regarding enhanced security procedures to be used in the November election. The negotiations began following Judge Lawrence Manzanares’s order last Friday that Secretary of State Gigi Dennis implement emergency statewide electronic voting security procedures for the November 7th election. The current agreement provides short-term measures to carry the state through November; following this election, the state will have to make further efforts to guarantee vote security. The enhanced security procedures will be filed in court this afternoon.

“The length and complexity of the security procedures that will be put in place for the November election, including the complicated chain of custody measures, demonstrate how badly the system is broken and that Judge Manzanares understood the critical need for additional security to mitigate the risks of the dubious DRE computerized voting machines,” said Paul Hultin, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, who headed a team of lawyers from the firm of Wheeler Trigg Kennedy LLP, in Denver, which is providing pro bono legal services in the case.

"While Voter Action is pleased with this first step towards a solution, once Colorado gets through the November elections, more must be done to reform the election process. Like New Mexico, Colorado should move to the less expensive, more reliable paper ballot and optical scanning method of voting. Such machines are essential for accuracy, security, and winning back the trust of Colorado voters,” stated Lowell Finley, co-director of Voter Action and co-counsel in the Colorado case and similar voter lawsuits in California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico.

The Colorado lawsuit was filed on June 1, 2006 by a diverse group of Colorado voters, among them Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Green Party members, as well as two disabled voters. The lawsuit challenged Secretary of State's Gigi Dennis' cursory and illegal certification of DRE computerized voting machines manufactured by Diebold, Sequoia, ES & S, and Hart Intercivic. Last Friday, Judge Manzanares of the Denver District Court ordered the Secretary of State to comply with the law and adopt minimum security standards for electronic voting machines and retest the four systems under those standards before authorizing their use in any future elections. In his ruling, Judge Manzanares said the Secretary of State's office failed to develop minimum security standards, as required by state law, and did an "abysmal" job of documenting the testing during its certification process. Today’s agreed upon security measures will be filed to comply with the Court’s Order.

Voter Action
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email: [e-mail]
web: http://www.voteraction.org

[Stevepol]

1. K&R! Thanks for posting. n/t