Judge: Georgia must allow inspection of election databases

FILE - This Sept. 22, 2016 file photo shows the screen of an electronic voting machine during testing at the Kennesaw State University Center for Election Systems in Kennesaw, Ga. Nearly two years ago, state lawyers said they intended to subpoena the FBI for the forensic image, or exact copy, it made of a crucial server before state election officials quietly wiped it clean. Election watchdogs want to examine the data to see if there might have been tampering. A new email obtained by The Associated Press says state officials never did issue the subpoena. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz, File) FILE - This Sept. 22, 2016 file photo shows the screen of an electronic voting machine during testing at the Kennesaw State University Center for Election Systems in Kennesaw, Ga. Nearly two years ago, state lawyers said they intended to subpoena the FBI for the forensic image, or exact copy, it made of a crucial server before state election officials quietly wiped it clean. Election watchdogs want to examine the data to see if there might have been tampering. A new email obtained by The Associated Press says state officials never did issue the subpoena. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz, File)

By Associated Press July 11, 2019 5 min read

ATLANTA (AP) – A federal judge has ordered Georgia election officials to allow computer experts and lawyers to review the databases used to create ballots and count votes.

The ruling came Tuesday in a lawsuit that challenges Georgia’s election system and seeks statewide use of hand-marked paper ballots.

U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg gave the state until Friday to turn over electronic copies of the databases to the plaintiffs’ lawyers and computer experts.

The lawsuit was filed by a group of voters and the Coalition for Good Governance, an election integrity advocacy organization. It argues that the paperless touchscreen voting machines Georgia has used since 2002 are unsecure, vulnerable to hacking and unable to be audited.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs have argued that they need to inspect the databases at issue because they provide the information that is loaded onto voting machines and then record the cast vote records.