Company sues Blackwell over voting machines

By Cindi Andrews
Cincinnati Enquirer staff writer  02 February 2005

A Texas-based company sued Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell this morning for ordering county election boards across the state to abandon plans for electronic voting machines.

Hart InterCivic Inc.'s eSlate voting machine was ed in 2004 by Hamilton County and seven other Ohio counties.

However, Blackwell said Jan. 12 that the General Assembly's passage of a bill last May requiring all machines to have a voter verifiable paper trail has made the move to electronic voting too slow and expensive. He ordered all county election boards to instead an optical-scan system - in which voters fill in ovals with No. 2 pencils - by Feb. 9.

They must choose between optical-scan systems offered by Diebold Elections Systems and ES&S - the only two certified by Blackwell's office. Hart InterCivic is developing an optical-scan system.

Hart InterCivic's lawsuit alleges the company spent $4.3 million working with state and county officials to offer its equipment in Ohio. The case was filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.