DENVER-Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has warned that the Centennial State could be sued over a decision by the secretary of state to allow counties to use electronic voting machines in this year's elections.

The Republican attorney general said he expects groups who challenged the state's use of electronic voting machines in the 2006 election cycle to file another lawsuit to prevent their use, The Grand Junction (Colo.) Sentinel reported Friday.

Suthers told the newspaper although he doesn't expect the case to be resolved until after the 2008 election, he said he doubts a judge would "derail the election" if county clerks say there is no way for Coloradoans to vote using paper ballots.

Colorado was sued during the 2006 election cycle over claims that the state's electronic voting machines were not tamper-proof.

In that case against then-Colorado Secretary of State Gigi Dennis, a Denver district court judge in September 2006 stopped short of barring the use of electronic voting machines, but said the state must do more security testing before the machines were used in the next statewide election.

Security testing that followed the ruling led to the decertification of several voting machines, the newspaper reported.