On Friday afternoon, Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state of Alabama’s use of vote counting machines. He also dismissed a motion by the plaintiffs in the case for a preliminary injunction that would have led to the hand-counting of ballots in the general election on November 8. The plaintiffs released a statement afterward lamenting Judge Griffin’s decision to dismiss their lawsuit.
“Steve Marshall, John Merrill, and the members of the electronic voting committee were provided a video of an electronic voting machine counting counterfeit ballots,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Melissa Isaak in a statement. “It was irrefutable that the machines were not functioning properly, and there has been no concern shown from any of these elected officials.”
“In May of this year, John Merrill said that the “hardened” stand-alone computers used in the election “cannot be connected to the internet.” This was shown in court to be false as Wifi and Bluetooth connectivity was specifically requested in Merrill’s own purchase orders,” Isaak continued. “Plaintiffs presented the world’s top cyber security experts who testified that Alabama’s electronic voting systems are NOT secure, and even if not connected to the internet, they can still be hacked.”
“We showed without dispute or opposition that the voting equipment to be used in the 2022 primary did not work properly but accepted fake ballots,” plaintiffs’ attorney Jay Hinton said. “Yet, the state used them anyway. We will continue to fight for all Alabama voters to make sure that their votes are ‘counted’ in a constitutional way.”
“Voter security is the most important issue of our time. If voting is not secure – then nothing is secure,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Phillip Jauregui said. “We brought our nation’s best experts into court, and they proved that our voting systems are insecure, uncertified, and accept fake ballots. We believe the Alabama Supreme Court will apply the law to the shocking facts in this case and protect our voting rights.”
Jauregui’s comments suggest that the plaintiffs intend to appeal Judge Griffin’s ruling.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit were Focus on America, former gubernatorial candidate Lindy Blanchard, State Rep. Tommy Hanes, and Dr. David Calderwood. Blanchard later stepped away from the lawsuit, suggesting that write-in gubernatorial candidates were using the lawsuit as a vehicle to promote their campaigns. Blanchard emphasized that she supports the whole Republican ticket.
“I’m very disappointed in Judge Griffin’s ruling,” stated Rebecca Rogers of Focus on America. “He could have taken an epic stand for election integrity, but he chose to support the status quo instead.”
“We presented evidence at the August 30 hearing that Alabama’s voting machines are vulnerable to hacking,” Rogers continued. “We know that at least some machines misread copied ballots as valid because that’s been shown to happen. With all the controversy surrounding elections today, we were asking the Judge to rule in favor of a method of counting that’s been used for centuries to give honest results–hand counting the ballots. Apparently, Judge Griffin accepted the State’s assurances that all was well and that there wasn’t anything to see here with our election machines.”
Marshall, who is defending the state, asked that the case be dismissed.
In the ruling, Griffin stated, “Plaintiffs fail to establish irreparable harm because their alleged injury is speculative. Further, the named Plaintiffs have failed to offer any testimony—whether by declaration or live at the hearing—to substantiate any allegations regarding their own circumstances. And without such evidence, Plaintiff has not met their burden to show that they themselves would suffer immediate and irreparable injury.”
The Secretary of State’s office maintains that Alabama has the most secure voting system in the country.
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