Garland Favorito of Georgia election integrity group, Voter GA, held a press conference last week to urge Ninth District Court Judge Amy Totenberg to side with the plaintiffs in Curling v. Raffensperger and declare the ballot imaging devices (BMDs) used in Georgia “constitutionally deficient.”
“The last month or so has been very intense; it’s been 24/7 days for most of the attorneys and staff,” Favorito began before turning to a discussion over the closing arguments made by plaintiff Ricardo Davis in the six-year-old lawsuit.
Davis is one of many plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which alleges the Dominion BMDs selected for use by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his office are vulnerable to hacking and manipulation, and as a result that Raffensperger cannot claim the machines, as currently configured, will provide accurate election results.
Despite Georgia law mandating the adoption of an electronic voting system, “the system that we have now is not the people’s choice,” said Favorito, explaining it was “purchased by the Secretary of State despite warning he received even before he took office” that it would not be secure.
Favorito explained that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim to represent more than 50,000 voters who were disenfranchised by the BMD system.
cvr live https://t.co/0r5mdHsCv5
— Garland Favorito (@VoterGa) February 8, 2024
“Georgia’s government has totally failed its own citizens and its own voters,” Favorito said. “The Georgia Legislature, judicial system, and executive branch refuse to protect constitutional rights so Georgians have no other remedy except to go to federal court.”
In addition to declaring the BMD system constitutionally deficient, the plaintiffs also want to prohibit Georgia from using the system or imposing laws requiring its use.
Citing Raffensperger’s alleged “intransigent or incompetent failures” to provide a secure voting system, Favorito urged the court to grant the plaintiffs’ requested relief.
“We urge the court to conclude the entire Dominion BMD system is constitutionally deficient as other states have done without court action,” said Favorito, noting that Tennessee, Colorado, and Texas discontinued, rejected, or replaced the BMD system before Georgia adopted it.
Favorito also urged the court to “declare the Defendants inability to conduct any type of electronic voting election has severely harmed our constitutional rights” and to “recognize the lack of election transparency also severely burdens our constitutional rights.”
After the trial concluded, a spokesman for Raffensperger told The Washington Post that Georgia’s electronic voting system is “widely trusted” by voters.
“The plaintiffs in this case concede as much by the fact that they don’t challenge the accuracy of the results of the 2020 or 2022 elections conducted on this system,” he said.
The plaintiffs do not allege the election system has been penetrated but rather that it could be compromised with minimal effort by a motivated party.
Last year, when scheduling the case’s January trial, Totenberg suggested she was sympathetic to the plaintiffs’ argument and urged Raffensperger to seek a settlement with those behind the lawsuit for the benefit of Georgia’s election system.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Garland Favorito” by Garland Favarito.Â
