Larry S. Gibson, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore, said the lawsuit's outcome is uncertain.
Regardless, he said, "why can't they just stand right outside the 100-foot limit?"
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This is not the first time that Schade has taken legal action against the state's voting system. Maryland's highest court in September upheld a lower court ruling denying an injunction sought by Schade to force the state to equip its more than 16,000 voting machines with printers -- intended to provide voters with a verifiable paper record -- in time for the November elections. That case will continue in a lower court, but will not be resolved by Election Day. As a result, nearly all Maryland residents will vote on machines made by Diebold Election Systems Inc.
TrueVoteMD's attempt to place volunteers in the restricted space around polling places is the latest development in Maryland's rocky path to implementing touch-screen voting. Maryland spent $55 million on the Diebold machines , but a 2003 report co-authored by Johns Hopkins University professor Aviel D. Rubin subsequently determined that the machines could be subjected to manipulation by hackers. In addition, a study commissioned by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) and conducted by SAIC Corp. revealed security problems, as did a study commissioned by the state Department of Legislative Services, conducted by Columbia-based RABA Technologies LLC.
State elections officials and Ehrlich insist that the machines are safe, and Lamone has been one of the most-quoted defenders of the accuracy and reliability of the Diebold machines. She said the machines have been secured against infiltration after researchers posted their source code on the Internet [when], revealing a variety of technological problems.
Maryland's ongoing controversy is part of a growing awareness of the inherent weaknesses in the U.S. voting system nationwide. Concerns in general about electronic voting have grown especially as political observers predict one of the tightest presidential elections in years.
Many electronic-voting opponents warn that the problems that marred Florida voting systems could be repeated on an even larger scale this year, including in other states that rely heavily on touch-screen voting, such as Georgia. Nevada elections officials also are using nothing but electronic-voting systems, but each machine is outfitted with a printer.
About 6 million area residents will use some kind of "direct recorded electronic" voting technology this year. District of Columbia residents will have their choice between electronic machines and optical-scan machines that record votes on a ScanTron-style ballot and store them electronically. Virginia voters will use a variety of machines because the state leaves the decision in the hands of individual counties and cities.
