Officials have choice of four voting machines

ALBANY - A court order issued Thursday provided a resolution for two companies competing for the lucrative opportunity to sell their voting machines in New York, but other issues remain unresolved.

County election officials will now be able to choose among four machines to be available for disabled voters in the fall presidential election, according to the court order.

The decision was an important step toward the state's compliance with the Help America Vote Act, enacted after the contested 2000 election to improve voting accessibility and accuracy. The U.S. Department of Justice sued New York in 2006 for its failure to implement the new law, and a federal judge last month approved a strict timeline for catching up.