Fresh Loaf

On Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over whether touch-screen voting — those controversial courtesy of Diebold that were ushered in after the 2000 presidential election clusterfuck — should be used in the state.

Early voting in downtown Atlanta, October, 2008,

The case stems from a 2006 challenge brought by Garland Favorito, who says the machines don’t produce a recorded ballot — you know, with results — and are open to tampering. (You can read about the plaintiffs’ concerns at Voter GA.)

After the jump, the case summary from the state Supreme Court communications office:

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Political junkies will recall Horlacher as a former press secretary to then-Gov. Roy Barnes. Horlacher, a partner with the Atlanta law office of Adorno & Yoss, is a longtime Democratic operative who usually moves behind the scenes. He considered running for Secretary of State four years ago, but passed.

He’ll hold a formal announcement on Wednesday, but in a press release he’s already taking aim at the legacy of the current SoS, Karen Handel:

It will be my top priority to immediately eliminate the partisan shenanigans that have crept into this office over the last few years.

Horlacher’s campaign platform seems to rest partly on a renewed call for a voting-machine “paper trail” to reassure voters that Georgia elections are on the up-and-up. By contrast, he says, Handel spent her time in office “resurrecting firewalls to make it more difficult for some to register to vote, using flawed techniques to try and purge selected voters lists, and even trying to inappropriately prevent a qualified candidate (from the other party) from seeking public office.”

Sad, but true, as we reported last October. (We also used the word “shenanigans.” Interesting.)

Horlacher has the connections and the political savvy to run a statewide campaign, but will that be enough to overcome low name recognition?

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Georgia Democrats are calling for Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel to extend advanced voting on Saturday and Sunday after computer glitches caused a reported 500 people to wait two hours in line at a Fulton County polling place.

State Rep.-elect Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta, says poll workers at the Adamsville Recreation Center in Southwest Atlanta told him voter check-in machines couldn’t access the Secretary of State’s system shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday night. When he arrived at the rec center to assist poll workers, Taylor — who was joined by Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders, Councilmember C.T. Martin and City Council Clerk Rhonda Johnson — says he saw an estimated 500 people still waiting to cast ballots.

“A few days ago, there was a problem connecting to the system,” the representative-elect says. “This time, there was a problem with the system.”

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