On September 28, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously upheld Georgia’s use of electronic vote-counting machines that don’t leave any paper trail or other audit trail. The case is Favorito v Handel, S09A1367. The decision, which is only eleven pages long, is here.

The lower court had not permitted a trial, so the case was decided with virtually no evidence on either side. The Georgia Supreme Court expended very little effort on its decision. It is mostly quotations from other courts from other states that also ruled nothing in any Constitution protects the right of voters to vote using methods that provide an audit trail. The Court also said, on page 9, “The undisputed evidence shows that the touch-screen machines accurately record each vote when they are ‘properly operated’, which is odd, since the plaintiffs were never given an opportunity to present evidence.

According to this story by Elizabeth Benjamin in the New York Daily News, President Obama is likely to be neutral in the November 2009 election for Mayor of New York city. Thanks to Nancy Hanks for the link. Mayor Mike Bloomberg is a registered independent, with the nomination of the Republican Party and the Independence Party. Bill Thompson is the Democratic nominee.

New London, Connecticut’s daily newspaper, The Day, has this September 27 editorial. It discusses the August 27 ruling that invalidated Connecticut’s public funding law for candidates for state office. The ruling invalidated the system because it discriminates so severely against minor party and independent candidates. The editorial is supportive of the decision and urges the legislature to correct the flaws in the law as soon as possible. The editorial urges that the legislature be called into special session this year, instead of leaving the matter unsettled and thus making it difficult for candidates in 2010 to plan ahead.