A judge directed Alabama election officials Monday afternoon to preserve all digital ballot images in Tuesday's hotly contested U.S. Senate special election.
An order granting a preliminary injunction was filed at 1:36 p.m. Monday - less than 24 hours before voting is to begin.
Reached by phone shortly after the injunction was issued Monday, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill declined to comment.
Digital ballot images are essentially digitized versions of the paper ballots Alabamians fill out in the voting booth.
In Alabama, these digital images are destroyed once an election has passed, according to Duncan.
That ballot is scanned and they destroy [the ballots] after the election ...
Shaul wrote in the order that destroying the images could have a negative impact on voters in Alabama. »