Gov Wolf's Edict Resulted in Election Problems in Six Pa. Counties

In 2016, former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who incidentally lives in Massachusetts, sued Pennsylvania in federal court over its "national disgrace" of an election system. Though the state's 67 counties were using a large variety of different systems, she nevertheless blasted them all as "vulnerable, hackable, antiquated technology."  Rather than fight Stein's frivolous lawsuit, Governor Tom "Neville Chamberlain" Wolf appeased her.  He ordered all counties to replace existing systems with "new modern machines" that include a voter verifiable paper trail. Although he provided no money,  his edict declared these new systems had to be in place before the 2020 Presidential election. Dauphin County thumbed its nose at Wolf, but 46 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, including Northampton County, used these new systems in November's just-held election. We all know Northampton County's experience was a disaster. But there were problems in five other counties as well. It appears that problems with new systems applied to paper ballots as well.

York County - York used the Dominion Image Cast Precinct (scanner) and Image Cast X ballot marking device. According to the state, York had the largest number of complaints throughout the state. Voters reported getting wrong-sized ballots and the county failed to provide enough scanners, which resulted in long lines. Some scanners would only read the first page of a two-page ballot. Voters began placing their ballots in a ballot box instead of using the scanner. In one township, the ballots were carried to the courthouse in a suitcase.  Results were not posted until two days after the election.

Carbon County - This County received its new system just a month before the election, the same paper ballot system used in York County.Voters used Sharpies with a two-sided ballot, leading to concerns that marks would bleed from one page to the next. On election night, the original count was 14,007 ballots. The next day, it was 24,334 votes. This is because the paper ballot scanners had a software glitch in which election results in some precincts were not added. Carbon County had to recount every vote by hand, and its official results were not reported until 17 days after the election.

Montgomery County - This County also used the Dominion system. Though I am unaware of any major issues in November's election, the Spring Primary was a disaster. Voters had to stand in three lines: check-in, filling out ballot and scanning. Poll workers began scanning ballots, compromising privacy. There were too few scanners.

Monroe County - Used the Clear Ballot paper ballot favored by some members of the Elections .
Commission. There were privacy concerns and scanner issues because paper ballots were incorrectly cut   

Lehigh County. - One candidate was accidentally left off the ballot. Poll workers had difficulty turning machines on and had to hand out provisional ballots. Voters also expressed privacy concerns. 

Whether it was Express Vote XL that Northampton County used or the paper ballots, there were problems using a new system to address a nonexistent problem.

To make matters worse, Jill Stein has sued again. Though her complaint now is just as frivolous as the original, I have to wonder how Governor Woolf will appease her this time.