Fight Over Philadelphia's Voting Machines May Head To Court

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein wants Pennsylvania to block Philadelphia from using new touchscreen machines it's buying ahead of 2020's elections and is threatening court action if it doesn't do so promptly.

Stein made the announcement Wednesday in front of Philadelphia's federal courthouse, where a group of plaintiffs including Stein filed an agreement with Pennsylvania last year to settle their lawsuit over vote-counting in 2016's election.

Stein made the request in writing to Pennsylvania's Department of State, which oversees elections.

Election-integrity advocates view the machines as less secure than systems that tabulate voter-marked paper ballots.

Gov. Tom Wolf's administration settled Stein's lawsuit in part by affirming a commitment it had made previously to push Pennsylvania's counties to buy new voting systems that leave a verifiable paper trail by 2020.

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