- Northampton County officials and voting machine manufacturer are looking for ways to prevent voting machine issues, like those in Tuesday's general election, going forward
- Officials say they do not intend to switch election equipment vendors within the next year
- The stakes are high for elections officials, with a presidential election coming up in 2024 and worsening distrust in elections among some voters
EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County officials and their election machine vendor are looking for ways to prevent issues with voting machines like those experienced in Tuesday’s general election.
During a press conference Tuesday, representatives for election machine manufacturer ES&S said human error led to retention races for Pa. Superior Court being mislabeled on the printed paper backup a voter sees before submitting their ballot.
As a result, Jack Panella’s and Victor Stabille’s names were swapped on the paper backup, and voters who opted to retain one judge and not the other would appear to have their votes flipped.
Officials said results were not affected.
“After 2019, we held ES and S accountable, and we had some of the best elections that were put on in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And ES and S was a large part of that,”Lamont McClure, Northampton County Executive
"The county and the voting system vendor have assured us that the issue was the result of human error in labeling two judicial retention elections. It does not appear that the issue affected the tabulation of results for those two retention elections," a spokeswoman for the Pa. Department of State, which oversees elections, wrote in a statement Thursday.
"The Department is following up with both Northampton County and ES&S to determine why the error was not identified prior to Election Day. We will use the lessons learned to determine if there are any additional directions we can provide to counties and voting system vendors to prevent a similar error in the future."
The upcoming presidential election, sure to be polarizing and very likely to sow still more distrust in elections, was hanging over Tuesday’s discussions of how to prevent issues and restore voters’ faith.
County Executive Lamont McClure said the county does not intend to break off the county’s relationship with the company in the next year. In working out a path forward, McClure said he’s looking to 2019 when issues arose with the same voting machines from the same manufacturer.
“After 2019, we held ES&S accountable, and we had some of the best elections that were put on in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And ES&S was a large part of that,” he said.
In particular, McClure said he wanted to avoid the complexities and uncertainty that come with using a voting system for the first time in a high-stakes, high-turnout election like the presidential primary and general elections next year.
“Do you want me to buy a new system leading into a presidential [election] year?” said McClure. "No thanks. You know, sometimes it’s better to deal with the company you know than the company you don’t.”
Northampton County’s contract with the voting machine company expires at the end of 2024, officials said.
Representatives for ES&S wrote in a statement that the company "takes full responsibility for the labeling error," and will "work alongside Northampton County to enhance pre-election steps to prevent this error in the future."
Read more about Tuesday's voting machines issue here
