Pa. rejects Patriot voting system again

Associated Press     24 October 2005

 

HARRISBURG, Pa. - For the second time this year, a touch-screen voting system used by three western Pennsylvania counties has failed to be certified by the state.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes said in a report that even an d version of the UniLect Corp.'s so-called Patriot voting system does not meet the state's standards, the Beaver County Times reported.

In April, the state banned Beaver, Mercer and Greene counties from using the Patriot systems they've had for several years. The ban was prompted after all three counties had higher than normal "undercounts" - the difference between the number of voters casting ballots and the total number of votes counted - in last November's election.

A subsequent test found problems with the system and all three counties had to use paper ballots in the May primaries. The counties will have to use paper ballots in the upcoming November election as well.

Cortes decertified the system after those tests earlier this year; after the company asked for another test of an d system, the state tested it again in August.

But Cortes' latest report, issued Friday, said the new, color-screen version of the system had many of the same problems as the older, black-and-white screen version.

His report said the Patriot system's scanner didn't work properly, the system's encryption standards didn't meet recommendations, and UniLect didn't provide documentation to prove that it followed industry guidelines on security management and software development.

UniLect President Jack Gerbel said he was unaware of Cortes' decision, telling the newspaper "I've long since given up trying to figure it all out."

A phone message left by The Associated Press on Monday at UniLect's Dublin, Ca., office was not immediately returned.

So far, only the Accupoll system, manufactured by Unisys Corp., has been certified by the state, but several other companies are also waiting for the state's final word.

The news of Cortes' decision was doubly troubling to Beaver County. The county had hoped to buy the new Patriot system machines after residents favored UniLect's models among a group of five during a demonstration at the county courthouse last month.

In order to get the $1 million in federal reimbursement available from the Help America Vote Act, Beaver County and other counties have to buy a system by Jan. 1.