Trial Ordered in Fla. E-Ballot Lawsuit

[CornField]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=703&e=2&u=/ap/20040927/ap_on_re_us/voting_lawsuit_florida

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court on Monday revived a lawsuit seeking a paper trail for Florida's new touchscreen voting machines with only five weeks left before the presidential election.

The court told a federal judge to reopen the case affecting the 15 Florida counties that use voting machines that don't create paper copies.

Three judges from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) wrote that the judge improperly decided not to get involved in the lawsuit filed by Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat.

(more via link)

[gratuitous]

1. Wexler was on Randi Rhodes today

On the phone, I mean. You people should be ashamed of yourselves.

Anyway, I gather that he is the congressman for Randi's district, and he was talking about the decision. The panel for the 11th Circuit was very conservative, and they still sent the case back for a hearing on the merits. The Chief Judge of the Circuit was on the panel, and there was apparently some forceful language that the District Court should hold the trial tout de suite.

Whether that will actually happen or not is, of course, the whole question. The District Court judge will probably wait for the mandate to come back from the 11th Circuit, then dawdle right to the end of any deadline before setting a trial date at the outer limit of whatever leeway he thinks he'll have from the 11th Circuit. If it gets heard before Nov. 3, it'll be a miracle.

Good news, but as always, tempered by the realities of the bunch of thieves we're dealing with.

[napi21]

2. Is this too late for the Nov. 2004 election?

I would think there's not enough time to make any significant changes to impact this election.

[Moderator]

3. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=868073