Judge: PA must have paper ballots ready if half of machines fail, plus Daily Show bonus!

By GottaLaff

Every little "fix" helps:

Pennsylvania must have paper ballots available for its voters if half the machines at a polling place break down, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

The state wanted paper ballots mandatory only if all the machines in a polling place failed.

"Emergency back-up paper ballots shall be used thereafter until the county board of elections is able to make the necessary repairs to the machine(s) or is able to place into operation," Judge Harvey Bartle ruled.

There will be no appeal.

Sidebar: Partial transcript (pool report) of Barack Obama on The Daily Show here.

Federal Lawsuit Finally Filed Against PA to Demand Emergency Paper Ballots for Voters

By GottaLaff

Yes! Via The Brad Blog:

Finally! A lawsuit [PDF] has finally been filed today in federal District Court in Pennsylvania, against the Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth, Pedro A. Cortes and the Commissioner of the state's Election Commission, Chet Harhut, over Cortes' recent decree that paper ballots only need be given out to voters in the event that every voting machine in a precinct breaks down.

That stunning decry was in opposition to PA's state law which allows election officials the discretion to give emergency paper ballots to voters if even a single machine breaks down in a precinct.

That neither Obama nor the DNC have said a word about this in the month or so since Cortes issued his decry has been maddening, and should be an outrage to voters of all parties in the Keystone State, sure to be another battleground state this November. The lawsuit was finally filed today by the state's NAACP in concert with the 866-MYVOTE1 Election Reform Network. [...]

[U]nfortunately, the suit calls very conservatively for emergency paper ballots to be given out if 50% or more of the voting machines in a precinct break down. But at least it's something...

I can't imagine why the Obama team (and the DNC) haven't done more. That part mystifies me. Especially in light of this (the quote is from their website):

"The Obama campaign has worked with the Democratic Party to build the most comprehensive voter protection program ever put in place. Volunteers and campaign staffers across the country are working to protect your rights on Election Day. We are testing voting systems, examining ballot designs, pushing to reduce lines, and expanding opportunities for early and absentee voting.

We have also been carefully monitoring the voter rolls — we are watching to make sure new registrants get on the rolls, and stay there."

If they win Pennsylvania, they win. So why aren't they more aggressive there? More here.