A hearing has been filed in the ongoing Georgia election cybersecurity case, Curling v. Kemp, where Georgia citizens are fighting for more secure elections in a lawsuit against Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp. The hearing is scheduled for Monday, 17 September, at 11am.
Oral arguments will take place at the US District Court in Atlanta before Judge Amy Totenberg, and David Cross, a partner at the law firm Morrison & Foerster, will represent the group of Georgia citizens who are the case’s plaintiffs.
Currently, Georgia’s voting system uses direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines and is one of only several states to have no independent paper trail, which leaves the electronic voting system vulnerable to election interference.
On behalf of the plaintiffs, Cross filed a brief in US federal court supporting their request for Georgia to switch to paper ballots for the November election. As part of the order filed, the Court denied the state’s motion to dismiss as to standing and immunity.
“Plaintiffs’ requested relief places all voters on an equal playing field and protects all voters against interference,” the brief said. “Defendants have provided no basis for this Court to find that the requested relief is so much more burdensome than the costly, complex, unsecure DRE-based system to warrant subjecting voters to that unreliable system.”
The plaintiffs added, “Defendants provide no basis for this Court to deny the Curling Plaintiffs’ Motion. They substitute conjecture for facts and legal authority and implicitly concede the inherent unreliability of the current DRE-based system. But they refuse to do anything about it this year. This violates the U.S. Constitution and Georgia state law and necessitates injunctive relief.”
Additionally, the plaintiffs “fully appreciate the gravity of their request” but said that “a preliminary injunction from this Court is the only way to protect their right to vote against manipulation or dilution this year.”
After the oral arguments are heard, Judge Totenberg will decide whether Georgia will have to switch to using paper ballots for the upcoming November general election, though there is no timeline yet for when a decision will follow.