The lawsuits on the ExpressVote XL voting devices could lead to their decertification in the state of Pennsylvania ahead of the 2020 presidential elections.
If Judge Paul S. Diamond grants the plaintiffs’ petition and forces decertification of XL, election, officials say they don’t have enough time to get the new machines up and running before the 2020 primaries.
It is now known that Philadelphia would need between 18 months and two years “at least” to implement a different voting system, according to an old affidavit by Procurement Commissioner Monique Nesmith-Joyner.
Everything suggests that the presidential election could be chaotic for Pennsylvania. Two separate lawsuits seek the immediate ban of a voting machine used by 1 in 5 voters in that state.
The result could also have broader implications. The device is certified in at least half a dozen other states.
The lawsuit keypoint
The central issue for the plaintiffs is that the paper used by the XL is what the Pennsylvania code defines as a voting card – and that it does not fit the state’s definition of a paper ballot.
They are trying to enforce the settlement agreement, which says the state can only certify the machines if “the ballot on which each vote is recorded is paper, they produce a voter-verifiable record of each vote; and they are capable of supporting a robust pre-certification auditing process.”
For the machine’s supplier, XL Election Systems & Software, the device is described as a “paper voter-verifiable record” and “summary card,” as recorded in an affidavit by Dean Baumert, principal product manager.
Within the lawsuit, there have been pauses and flexibilities because it is known that no election is perfect. But in Northampton County, eastern Pennsylvania, last November, their problems went way beyond the typical. Lines were long at precincts and there were paper jams in the ExpressVote XL machines.
If the lawsuits succeed the machines will at least be decertified in Philadelphia, Northampton and Cumberland counties.
Will it be present or not?
We have to wait for the court decision that has to answer the claims against the ExpressVote XL. In the meantime, what is at the forefront is the 2020 presidential election to be held on Tuesday, November 3. It will be the 59th presidential election in the United States.
The voters elect the pledges who in turn must choose the new president and vice president through the Electoral College. The limit established by the Twenty-second Constitutional Amendment allows the incumbent president, Donald Trump, to be re-elected for a second term of office.
Presidential primaries and caucuses are likely to be held during 2020. This electoral process is also an indirect election, where voters cast their votes for a list of delegates to a political party’s nominating convention, who then elect their party’s presidential nominee. In addition, 34 senators and the entire House of Representatives are elected.
Translated by: José Espinoza
Latinx Newswire
