Wednesday, November 06, 2019
McClure Will Meet Press Concerning Express Vote XL
Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, along with representatives of ExpressVote XL manufacturer ES&S, will meet with the press today, 1 pm, to discuss what went wrong in yesterday's election. This is a core county function, and this inexcusable failure is ultimately a burden McClure must bear. Instead of promoting voter confidence with a new system, it was undermined. I do not fault the system, but believe there was a programming error in the computer run. This should have been tested before being inflicted on the voter.
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33 comments:
This whole election is a cluster F--k. Inexcusable is one way to put it. You wrote an earlier article about the league of women voters making a big error on their ballot information for judge. You wrote about the selection process of purchasing the new machines. This is what you get when you turn this process over to complete amateurs. You're right. There is absolutely no excuse for what happened. McClure must accept all responsibility for this mess. Keep appointing political hacks to the election commission and other boards and keep giving political hacks duties and responsibilities that are way over their heads and we can expect more of the same. I want a new election.
You won't get one. There is a strong judicial presumption in favor of the finality of elections. The way election commissioners are selected is set forth in the Home Rule Charter. The party bosses, and not the Exec, actually make the picks. I long ago advocated this and many other problems need to be changed, but Council refused to vote for a home rule charter study commission.
Don't trust a machine (system) that prints your vote on the paper before you confirm and cast your official vote on the voting machine. Also, the touch screens were very touchy so to speak. Cast a vote for one candidate and another would hi-lite. Talk about voter fraud! ??? More wasted tax dollars.
This is what happens when you put a political hack hire in charge of this important function. Cozze was hired as a secretary. She can call herself the executive assistant but she is not. She is pure patronage eye candy for
Dertinger.
She should not be on the fourth floor working on projects out of her pay range and not with her non experience. Time to go back down to the office she is supposed to be in.
After this debacle maybe you should check on the raise she was given.
Cozze = Executive Secretary since when. That didn't go in front of Council nor the raise. Raise for what the voting machine debacle????? Take raise away and give it back to the taxpayers!
I could see the touchscreens, soft touch and hard touch was being discussed as to it registering, it was very hard to see who I voted for on the paper ballot it appeared as though, Morganelli's name did not appear, nor did the one name for township supervisor.
There was only one machine and the line was long and lots of nice people were waiting, I do not like when anyone see's who I vote for including poll workers, feeling foolish, a little stupid, and embarrassed, I just hit cast and allowed someone else to vote.
Progress may be passing me by, I may no longer be competent to vote by myself, I believe I've come to understand the issues and know the personalities, but now the machinery eludes me.
Not good enough! Mr. I am Executive who does great things and the county messed up. he takes the praise and shifts the blame, McClure. He and his pals at Ess cannot sugar coat this with a pat each other on the back press show.
County Council must demand that the company people come to a county council meeting. They have the right to do that and McClure can't stop them/
Please stop minimizing the problem to cover for McClure. Many horror stories.
The new system was the choice of McClure, elections office, a majority of election judges who looked at competing systems, the elections commissioners and a 8-1 majority on council. In my view, it is the best system. The county failed to ensure it was properly vetted with the nov ballot. This should have been done.
10:34, I am unaware McClure minimized this problem. The sensitivity issues were minor. The long lines were a function of turnout. Throne major issue was the printout and this is on the county. I am also sure Council will want a full explanation tomorrow.
In contrast, Lehigh Valley’s scantron-type system was easy to use, took a bit longer (coloring the bubbles was more of a challenge than hitting a touch screen), and when the ballot paper was sucked into the scanner and I didn’t hear a shredder munch the ballot, I felt good about the move to paper.
Another example of why having two counties instead of one - in our particular geographic and economic instance- loses money and makes accountability vanish. Please, fewer school districts, fewer municipalities, and in some cases, maybe only 66 counties in the Commonwealth?
I disagree that the sensitivity issues of the touchscreens were minimal. And I believe your efforts to diminish them will distract from the dialogue we need to have this serious problem corrected. Complaints about the touchscreens are coming from across the county - different polls and different people. I personally had trouble with my touchscreen. I called in the Judge of Elections and she had trouble with the touchscreen. When she couldn't get it to work she asked me if I just wanted to vote straight party which infuriated me. It took me much longer to vote than ever before. I cannot help but wonder how many people just gave up trying to get their choices properly recorded.
This issue falls squarely on the shoulders of McClure and Dertinger. Cozze was their puppet told to make the numbers work when the hard sell for these machines was on. Lee Snover has NOTHING to complain about as her sister is on the Election Commission and was one of 2 Repubs to vote for this mess. Personnel situation in the Elections office also needs to be looked at as there are shortcomings there caused in large part by the administration.
Cozze is useless & about as tasteless as her cakes
@10:57 you are exactly right i witnessed that very problem all day .
The County Administrator and Executive election erection has gone soft. All the hype of how our world would be a better place with these and no happy ending here folks- move along. File this in the failures like Gracedale and the County employee wages.
Everybody relax. So what if McClure ran a banana republic election. We're getting the finest forensics center in the state. A complete autopsy on the county's disastrous handling of the election will be performed in unimaginable splendor. Because this administration uses tax dollars wisely. Let's print up cardboard checks and hold ceremonies and feel good.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown Lamont. Time to face the music the new machine rollout was a disaster.
@ 10:13 Cozze is pure patronage. What's even worse is Becky Bartlett as Deputy Administrator. Month after month, year after year she would right disgraceful nasty letters to the editor of LVL. Anyone that didn't have her far left views were to be destroyed. Regardless of political views, her disgraceful behavior should not have been rewarded with a patronage job. It's ok to disagree with others, but some of things she would write were down right nasty. She shouldn't be working for the county in that job, period.
Now anon 1:38. to be fair the only qualifications Ms. Bartlett needs is the ability to follow Mr. McClure everywhere and video his every action. He hands out checks and proclamations like candy on Halloween and she records it all. The county website should be listed as an in-kind contribution for McClure. No offense county council but you guys are not in the loop. You might as well not show up as it is all the McClure show and you are just spectators..
Also this service is all done on the taxpayers dime.
"The long lines were a function of turnout." #FAKENEWS
Long Lines were a result of an emergency COURT ORDER in which every voter in the whole entire county had to hear specific instructions on what to do if they had difficulty voting. That order created the longer wait time and lines, in addition to the continued problems throughout the day.
Bernie report on Dally and Koury filing the emergency action against the McClure administration
Just what I was concerned about the press conference dealt primarily with the tallies at the end of the day and not the significant difficulties with the failed touchscreens. This election was a failure on many levels and no one is addressing the fact that people wrre unable to have their choices registered and then counted!
Judge Koury had trouble with his touchscreen!
Typical McClure show. He took responsibility while proposing the problems were not that serious. he dissed the reporter who he had thrown out. He claims the public was allowed to be there but not reporters?? I guess the reporters are not the public. Ya need a lawyer for that one all right. Then he kept pushing his agenda.
Problem is if the people hit one button and another lit then the "paper trail" is meaningless as it is flawed as well. This was a mess.
By the way, why was Amy Cozze the "machine expert" not at the press conference. They paraded her around as the expert as did you Bernie. Will she be held accountable to answer questions?
What long lines? less than 50 % of the registered voters voted. Wait till next year, then you'll see longgggggggggggggggggggggggg, longggggggggggggggggggg linessssssssssssss
NC voters need to show up in number and demand answers.
Wait wait!! First off Mr. O'Hare it was not voter turnout. Second you were all gun ho on these machines showing people how to use them etc... So you are on the list as well to blame you said they were good. Looking back at your past blogs from years ago didnt you rip up the election office for machine issues?? Where is your HUGE outrage?? Shouldnt you blame the person running the Election office.. Like you did years ago?? Put her on blast about her incompetence to run the office. Sounds like since you were a part and supportive of the machines you are not as argumentative with the head of the Election Office. Strange.
You obviously have a personal animus as opposed to a real interest
This is an utter failure by the administration. They look completely lost on this.
3million bucks and I posted on this blog to do paper and pay poll workers enough that they would want to do it. Also my post about 9:45 or 21:45 hrs and “a recount on the horizon “ not significant. I know your were pissed off about private phone conversation and made statements about my crediabily. So now it’s paper anyway.
Peter,so far as I know, I have not deleted you. If I did, it was accidental and I apologize.
Bernie ,your blog has be so beneficial to the public ,in accountability,and general information. No need to apologize.
In McClure’s defense, voting machines certified by the state (as these were) should work. And there were a lot of valid reasons to “like” these machines, at least on paper (no pun intended). The manufacturer has a lot to answer for in my opinion.
That said, I was one of the very outspoken critics of these machines in May. My biggest concern was usability and the paper trail not being voter-verified (as the voter does not fill in circles themselves as on a true paper ballot, rather the machine prints a fresh, custom ballot per voter to act as a voting record).
The main problem is usability decreases the more complex any system becomes. Paper-based systems can seem like a step backwards, but ultimately paper ballots are reliable and fully recountable. The scanning technology used with paper ballots is old and battle-tested, and actual voting errors are limited to user-errors that can be fixed by asking for a new ballot. Paper ballots can be comparatively quickly manually counted.
The NorCo machines can conceivably register a vote one way (so your onscreen vote appears as Candidate X) and print it differently (so your printed vote is marked as Candidate Y). If there is found to be any instances of this, I trust that the county will demand the manufacturer take back these machines for a full refund plus costs incurred.
Again, I was publicly an outspoken critic of these new machines, to the point that I personally received some rather negative press. And while I felt certain officials were not taking my concerns as seriously as they could have in May, I do feel strongly that McClure and everyone involved did have the county’s best interests in mind.
I am certain McClure had no evil intentions nor that Cozze did anything but the best job she could. There are always far more mundane reasons why things happen, including the choice of these machines (such as deadlines, legal restrictions, budget concerns, worries about the weight of paper ballots, warranties, etc.) but conspiracy theories are more fun I suppose. Heck, in May I was accused of being a shill for a competing voting machine manufacturer!
Let’s hope the cause of these problems gets resolved, or that the vendor owns up and reimburses the county for a faulty system.
PS: I actually moved out of NorCo in July so I voted on a paper ballot in Lehigh County - it was great! I sat in a chair as I had my 5 month old daughter with me, took my time to read the ballot, and when ready I skipped past ~10 other people still filling out their ballots and dropped mine into the scanner. Quick, not rushed, easy... and so far no reason to think my vote was not counted correctly. There will always be complaints, ad worries, with voting.
Lorenzo Marinelli
Lorenzo--very well put--only thing i can add is AMEN.
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