Federal appeals court rules Georgia’s electronic voting system poses security risk

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Thursdayupheld a ruling that Georgia’s electronic voting system poses a security risk and would potentially deny voters due process under the Fourteenth amendment.

The plaintiffs brought an action against the state for their use of direct record electronic (DRE) machines for the midterm elections in 2018. They argued that the threat of hacking the electronic records would violate a Georgia citizen’s due process right to vote and could potentially violate the Equal Protection Clause by allowing the state to deliberately not count the votes of people from certain demographics.

The Georgia Secretary of State and election board filed an appeal claiming that they were entitled to immunity under the Eleventh Amendment. The circuit court in its appeal found that the Constitution only bars claims for monetary relief. The court reasoned that the plaintiffs were only seeking injunctive relief to bar the state’s mandatory use of unsecured DRE machines in future Georgia elections and so state official’s were not entitled to immunity.

Source: Jurist