Letters Urging States to Secure, Replace Paperless DRE Voting Machines
The Brennan Center sent letters to eight states (Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas) that use paperless DRE voting machines as the primary polling place equipment in at least some of their jurisdictions. The letters called on these states to transition to paper-based voting systems, noting the likelihood of litigation after this year’s election in light of a recent opinion in Curling v. Kemp, in which a federal court in Georgia acknowledged the expert consensus that these systems do not provide sufficient security and may violate voters’ constitutional rights. Given that these eight states will be unable replace their paperless voting machines before the midterm elections, the Brennan Center offered suggestions to minimize the risks associated with using them this November. In addition to Georgia, four other states (Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Pennsylvania) also use paperless voting machines, but all have taken steps to replace their remaining paperless systems before 2020.
