Monday, July 14, 2008
Lawsuit seeks to enjoin state from using Hart electronic voting machines
by Larry Geller
A lawsuit has been filed today in Circuit Court on Maui against Kevin Cronin, Chief Elections Officer for the State of Hawaii, that would put the brakes on the state’s rush to put Hart voting machines on-line for the November election.
Five Maui residents have filed suit claiming that the transmission of votes via phone line or the Internet is in violation of Hawaii state law. The suit also alleges that the rush to use the HART machines in the November elections has not been preceded by the necessary rulemaking.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Lance D. Collins, said in a press release, “Voting is the bedrock of a democratic society. The desire to use the latest technologies cannot override requirements for orderly and secure vote counting procedures.”
This lawsuit comes after a stay was lifted against the purchasing of the Hart machines by the State Procurement Office (see Vote preparations resume, Honolulu Advertiser, July 2, 2008). There is still a challenge against the $43.3 million contract pending by competitor Election Systems & Software, which submitted a lower bid than Hart.
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