The Tarrant County Democratic Party and four local voters have filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas secretary of state declaring that the electronic voting machines used in Tarrant County are unconstitutional and in violation of federal law.
The suit calls for the county's election system to install a verifiable paper trail in time for Tuesday's general election, a process that the top local election official said would be impossible.
Art Brender, chairman of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, filed the suit in Austin on Monday charging that without a backup paper trail that voters can use to double-check their vote when casting their ballot electronically, the voting system in Tarrant County violates the Texas Election Code, the Help America Vote Act, and the first and fourteenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Brender said he's aware that a paper-trail system cannot be adopted in time for next week's election. The purpose of the suit, he said, is to force courts to determine whether federal law already requires a paper trail. It also serves as a way for the local Democratic Party to hedge its bets in case a serious problem emerges with the voting machines on Election Day, he said.
"If you can show it's a programming error and the court upholds what we're saying ... then I think a court would and should give you another election," Brender said.
Brender filed the suit with Tarrant County residents Ealy Boyd, Bobbie Cornelison, Priscilla Brown and Dolores Valdez. All are Democrats who have served on the Tarrant County Ballot Board, which oversees the counting of absentee and early ballots, according to the suit.
Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said the suit is without merit.
The secretary of state, who must approve all election equipment, has not approved any paper-trail systems, although other states have.
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