Pa. to hear electronic voting challenge

Pennsylvania voters have cast ballots electronically for years, but a voter-rights group plans to argue before the state’s highest court that the most widely used voting system violates state law.

At issue in Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing in Philadelphia is that the computerized machines do not generate a paper record of votes as they’re cast. Rather, they create electronic records that can be printed later.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs say that makes it impossible to verify that the data wasn’t altered.

State attorneys say the machines must meet strict accuracy and security standards and no vote has ever been lost because of the devices.

The hearing stems from an appeal in a 2006 case targeting the 23,500 direct recording electronic systems used by 50 of the 67 counties.