Case 1:17-cv-02989-AT Document 579 Filed 08/15/19 Page 20 of 153
to provide relief as requested by Plaintiffs, therefore admitting they are not
necessary parties under Rule 19.
Despite their generalized and hyperbolic
arguments regarding the need to join municipalities, the evidence shows that: (i)
275 of the 386 scheduled municipal elections are conducted by the counties; (ii)
70 of the 99 municipality-conducted elections are conducted on hand-marked
paper ballots as Plaintiffs requested and six (6) are conducted using lever
machines; and (iii) 23 of the 99 municipalities will conduct elections using DREs.
The State Defendants have presented no evidence regarding which of these
municipalities rely on the Secretary of State to build their electronic ballots,
which contract with a third-party vendor to build the ballots, or which, if any,
may build their own ballots. Georgia law requires the Secretary of State “[t]o
develop, program, build, and review ballots for use by counties and
municipalities on voting systems in use in” Georgia. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-50(a)(15)
(emphasis added). Therefore, if the Secretary of State is enjoined from preparing
electronic ballots and ordered to provide only paper ballots for use by counties
and municipalities (and to procure optical scanners/tabulators pursuant to
O.C.G.A. § 21-2-300 for use as needed), Plaintiffs would be afforded complete
relief. Accordingly, the evidence, coupled with the State Defendants’ duties and
responsibilities under Georgia law to oversee, implement, and manage all
primary and general elections in the State, compels a finding that joinder of the
23 municipalities is not required under Fed. R. Civ. P. 19.
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