|
New Mexico: Court Permits Lopatequi Voting Machine Lawsuit To Go Forward |
|
|
|
|
By VoterAction New Mexico
|
|
January 19, 2006 |
On January 18, 2006, New Mexico District Judge Eugenio Mathis
authorized the plaintiff voters in Lopategui v. Vigil-Giron, et al. to
proceed with the collection of evidence and preparation for a trial in
which plaintiffs will seek a permanent injunction against use of
inaccurate and unreliable electronic voting machines in New Mexico
elections. At an afternoon hearing in Las Vegas, New Mexico,
Judge Mathis denied a motion for summary judgment filed by defendant
Rebecca Vigil-Giron, the Secretary of State, seeking to dismiss the
lawsuit. He also lifted a stay of discovery he had imposed in
December, 2005. Finally, Judge Mathis granted motions to be
dismissed from the lawsuit that had been filed by the county clerk
defendants, but only on the condition that they agreed to be bound by
any injunction subsequently issued against the Secretary of State.
The court’s rulings are a victory for the plaintiffs, who may now
subpoena testimony, documents, and voting machine inspections.
The new evidence will augment the substantial evidence plaintiffs have
already amassed of the inaccuracy and unreliability of electronic
voting systems used in New Mexico elections.
In the meanwhile, an agreement remains in effect that temporarily
prevents the Secretary of State from spending millions of dollars on
hundreds of additional Sequoia AVC Edge touch screen voting machines.
The agreement was negotiated between attorneys for the plaintiffs and
for the Secretary of State prior to the January 18th hearing. The
agreement will remain in effect until the court rules on the matter,
probably in late February or early March.
On January 12, 2006, Governor Bill Richardson announced a plan to
convert all of New Mexico to voting on optically-scanned paper
ballots. Plaintiffs support rapid adoption, funding and implementation
of the plan. Unless and until that occurs, however, plaintiffs intend
to push forward with the lawsuit as the only means to assure that
inaccurate and unreliable electronic voting systems are never used
again in a statewide New Mexico election.
Comment on This Article
You must login to leave comments...
Other Visitors Comments
There are no comments currently....
|
