In the Courts and in the News.

The article looks at cases for and against the use of electronic voting machines in the United States between March and September 2004. Electronic voting machines have been in the news a lot, as groups file legal actions both for and against use of the machines and new problems with elections are uncovered. March--In a case brought by the American Association of Disabled Persons, a federal judge in Florida orders Duval County to have at least one machine that allows the visually impaired to vote without assistance at 20 percent of its polling places. April--In Maryland, local politicians and activists from the Campaign for Verifiable Voting file suit against the Maryland Board of Elections to block the use of the state's 16,000 direct record electronic (DRE) voting machines, which do not have printers to produce paper receipts as required by state law. April--Citing security and reliability concerns and following problems in the March 2 primary election, California's secretary of state bans the use, in the November 2004 election, of more than 14,000 DREs made by Diebold, Incorporated. June--The head of the Election Assistance Commission calls for tougher security measures for electronic voting by the November election.