Unconstitutional Voting System Banned by 2020
CPGA Plaintiffs Get 2nd Federal Suit Win in 3 Years

ATLANTA, GA – Thursday Judge Amy Totenberg of the U.S. District Court of North Georgia banned the current Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting systems from further use in Georgia elections beginning in 2020. The DRE system produces results that cannot be verified by the voter, audited by election officials or recounted for candidates. The court found the system impairs Georgia voters’ Constitutional right to vote in any federal election.

Constitution Party of Georgia (CPGA) Chairman Ricardo Davis is a plaintiff in the case that obtained the landmark ruling; no other political party had leadership that participated as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. It was the second federal election court win for CPGA plaintiffs in three years. CPGA plaintiffs participated in a successful ballot access lawsuit that reduced Presidential ballot access petitioning requirements by 85% in the 2016 election cycle.

The landmark ruling essentially reverses a 2008 Georgia Supreme Court decision where the court refused to apply a strict scrutiny legal standard to the Constitutional right to vote for Georgia voters. Davis and CPGA Elections Director Garland Favorito where plaintiffs in that case.

The ruling Thursday came as no surprise to those who attended a July hearing that revealed the state had concealed key internet exposures and vulnerabilities from the court. Totenberg’s comments cited “inconsistent candor” by the defendants in “denial and dodging” of the “broad scale vulnerability” involving the 2017 internet breach of the election servers at Kennesaw State. She concluded: “the Defendants’ contention that the servers were … not intentionally destroyed or wiped is flatly not credible.”

Judge Totenberg’s ruling requires the state to implement a backup plan of hand marked paper ballots if the system replacing the current DRE system is not ready for the March Presidential Primary.