Officials in Pennsylvania cited a “coding error” for an electronic voting machine flipping votes in a recent local election. This glitch is likely to intensify criticism of electronic voting machines, prompting renewed calls for a return to paper ballots.
“A coding error in Northampton County, Pennsylvania’s voting machines, caused a significant issue during a recent election. The glitch resulted in votes being incorrectly flipped on a ballot question concerning the retention of two state judges,” Resist the Mainstream reported.
The malfunction affected votes in the Pennsylvania Superior Court race, specifically for Judges Jack Panella and Victor Stabile, according to The Associated Press. County Executive Lamont McClure revealed that votes initially marked as “yes” to retain one judge and “no” for the other were incorrectly switched on printouts from touchscreen ballot machines.
The problem was notable, affecting more than 300 voting machines. Voters noticed the discrepancy upon reviewing printed records. The Pennsylvania Department of State confirmed that the issue was isolated to Northampton County and did not extend to other races.
“Panella’s votes will be returned to Panella, and Stabile’s will be returned to Stabile,” McClure said, downplaying the severity of the malfunction and referring to it as a “relatively minor glitch.”
“The county has pointed to the voting machine vendor, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), as the source of the error. Katina Granger, a spokesperson for ES&S, attributed the mistake to human error and emphasized that it was an isolated incident, affecting only the judicial retention question in Northampton County,” Resist The Mainstream added.
The use of electronic voting machines gained prominence after the 2020 election, marked by claims—lacking court-worthy evidence—from then-President Donald Trump’s advocates and attorneys suggesting votes were ‘flipped’ to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
In January, former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake applauded an Arkansas county court’s decision to eschew electronic voting machines for future elections, opting for a return to paper ballots. This move aimed to enhance election integrity and foster confidence in the electoral process.
Lake shared the news of the Cleburne County court decision in a tweet, which also included a link to a KARK report outlining the ruling:
The Arkansas Voter Integrity Initiative Inc. (AVII) indicated that the decision responded to AVII CEO Colonel Conrad Reynolds’ advocacy to eliminate election computers from Arkansas elections. Consequently, the ruling mandates hand counting of votes.
“The machines do not read the names on the ballots, instead, they scan barcodes, which humans cannot read,” Reynolds said. “They also utilize proprietary software that we are not allowed to examine. This all means voters cannot verify that their vote is being counted properly as mandated by state law.”
An attorney associated with AVII highlighted that, as per Arkansas state law, individual counties retain the authority to determine their preferred voting methods.
Jacque Martin, a Justice of the Peace in Cleburne County, cast a vote in favor of transitioning to paper ballots. Martin expressed the sentiment, stating, “It’s time we take back and return to having elections we can have faith in – with transparency and integrity,” as reported by KARK.
Officials from AVII outlined their intention to advocate for the remaining 74 counties in the state to adopt paper ballots by the year’s end.
In her tweet, Lake said, “Americans in EVERY state and EVERY community must demand honest elections. No electronic voting machines, replace election month with election day and paper ballots that are hand-counted in small precincts. We demand honest & transparent elections NOW!”
