Republicans file lawsuit contesting some Virginia elections

By the Associated Press

Published November 4, 2003

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Republicans in Fairfax County filed a lawsuit just before the polls closed in legislative and local races Tuesday, challenging election results because nine voting machines malfunctioned.

The lawsuit threatened to stall results in some of Virginia's most vigorously contested state Senate and House of Delegates races as well as hot races for local offices in the Washington, D.C., suburb.

The Fairfax County Republican Committee and the campaign of Mychele Brickner, the GOP candidate for chairman of the county board of supervisors, filed the lawsuit against the Fairfax County Electoral Board and the State Board of Elections, state GOP spokesman Shawn M. Smith said.

The complaint seeks an emergency injunction barring the use of results from the computerized touch-screen voting machines in nine precincts because the machines malfunctioned during the day, Smith said.

According to the lawsuit, the machines were taken to the Fairfax County Government Center, then returned. The Republican lawsuit asks that the results be frozen until it can be proved that the machine tabulations weren't tampered with.

"The Republican Party seeks to preserve the integrity of the ballots cast," Smith said.

A hearing on the lawsuit was set for Wednesday.

from http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--electionlawsuit1104nov04,0,3839357.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia