County scrambles for voting system

BY JON STEVENS AND CARA HOST, Observer-Reporter   08 April 2005

With barely a month before the May 17 primary, Greene County finds itself without a voting system.

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortes announced Thursday the decertification of the UniLect Patriot Direct Recording Electronic Voting System that only serves Beaver, Mercer and Greene counties.

A touch-screen computer system for Greene County was purchased for $318,000 to replace the use of antiquated paper ballots. This system has been used by the county since 1998.

Cortes based his decision to decertify the machines on a study conducted by researchers at Grove City College that found the touch-screen devices failed to sense finger touches and did not register nor record votes. The screen also "froze" and stopped accepting touches.

"Making sure that every person's vote is counted in every county throughout Pennsylvania is a top priority of this administration," Cortes said.

"Are there problems with our machines? The state seems to think so, but I certainly don't," said Pam Snyder, chairman of the Greene County Board of Commissioners.

When she ran for commissioner in 2003, Snyder said she spent hours in the Greene County Elections Office, testing the machines to assure herself of their reliability and accuracy. "They were flawless. I was convinced," she said.

Now that the state has decertified the voting machines, Greene County officials are left scrambling to figure out how citizens will cast their ballots in about 40 days, the May 17 primary.

The commissioners and state officials, including Gov. Ed Rendell, will discuss the situation today through a conference call.

A number of resolutions are possible, including upgrading the UniLect system or adopting a new method, Snyder said. However, both of those options will be time-consuming and maybe impossible to introduce since the municipal primary is less than 6 weeks away, Snyder said.

Voters may have to use a familiar, but low-tech system in the upcoming election. Greene County citizens voted by paper ballot until 1999, when the county adopted the computer system. However, the county still may not have the equipment needed to revert to paper ballots.

"We will have to search through storage to see what we have left," Snyder said.

For the past six years, the machines have been certified to be used in Pennsylvania elections. Since the state has revoked that certification, Snyder said the state or the company should pay to replace or upgrade the machines.

"We're going to move heaven and Earth to make sure Greene County won't have to pay one red cent," Snyder said. "I'm confident the state will rectify the situation."

Cortes said, "The Department of State will do all that it can to make sure that these counties have our full support in order to have a smooth and accurate election during the primary on May 17. We will provide them with the very best technical assistance available."

The Department of State was asked to examine the electronic systems after receiving a petition from 19 registered voters from Beaver County questioning whether the systems may be susceptible to fraud or malfunctions.

The Department believes these malfunctions help explain why there were more than 10,000 instances where a vote was not counted in the three counties during the 2004 general election.

The Grove City College study found undercount percentages in each county were: Mercer ? 7.29 percent; Greene ? 4.5 percent; and Beaver ? 5.25 percent.

When she learned there would be an examination of the system, Francis Pratt, county elections office director, said "Undervotes are a fact of life."

She noted, for instance, that in the election for U.S. Senate in November, 597 voters failed to vote for a candidate. The county also had undervotes when it used paper ballots, Pratt said.