San Bernardino County Board to Join E-Vote Suit

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to join Riverside County in suing the secretary of state to regain the right to use electronic voting machines in November.

The move reaffirms the county’s decision to use its new touch-screen voting machines in the November presidential elections despite a move by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to decertify their use.

Shelley certified the use of the system before the March 2 primary election. But following that election, he said security and technological problems raised concerns about the machines. In April, he banned electronic voting in four counties whose machines used unapproved software.

He also decertified and set strict conditions for recertifying 10 other counties, including Riverside and San Bernardino, that intended to use the machines in November.

Among other requirements, the recertification requirements would force the counties to let voters use a paper ballot instead of an electronic machine.

San Bernardino County officials said Tuesday that the decertification will only impose unnecessary constraints on the county and shake the public’s confidence in the voting systems.