Georgia Judge Rules Against Activists In Ballot Secrecy Suit

A judge has declined to order election officials in a Georgia county to use hand-marked paper ballots. The Sumter County Superior Court judge was ruling on an emergency motion that accompanied a lawsuit that alleges that the state's new voting machines violate voters' right to a secret ballot. The suit filed by election integrity activists says the machines' large, bright, vertical touchscreens and large font allow other people in the room to see a voter's selections. The judge wrote in an order signed Monday that the activists hadn't proven that it will “impossible or impracticable” for the election officials to arrange the voting machines “in a manner that protects the secrecy of the ballot while allowing sufficient monitoring.”