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Friday, November 10, 2023

Should Exec Lamont McClure Resign Over Election Imbroglio?

State Rep. Milou MacKenzie, whose son is running for Congress, is calling for Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure's resignation over a coding error that was missed when the Express Vote XL voting system was tested prior to Tuesday's election.  McClure has dismissed it as a "relatively minor" error that only impacted the Superior Court retention races. But without question, it impacted the entire election. Machines were shut down in many precincts, and voters were asked to fill out emergency and provisional ballots. In others, voters were simply told to come back later. In still others, elections judges never turned on their phones instructing them to stop using machines. All of this undermines public confidence in our elections at a time when this keystone to democratic government is being assailed by Donald Trump and his myrmidons. It's especially troubling because this is the second time, In 2019, poor pre-election testing led to disaster at the polls. But rather than chop off heads, I'd like to see the L&A (logic and accuracy) testing improved. 

Some people are blaming the Express Vote XL machines. They also call McClure a sexist because of his "Milou who?" response to her attack.  That's ridiculous.

There is nothing remotely sexist in what McClure said about MacKenzie. The reason he would say "Milou who?" is because she only represents one or two precincts of this county and is largely invisible here. If you want to talk about sexism, look no further than GOP presidential contender Ramaswamy, who reffered to Nikki Haley as a "Dick Cheney with thre-inch heels."

As far the Epress Vote XL, it is the best voting machine out there. I say this as someone who worked with that machine. It gives you the convenience of a touch screen combined with a paper ballot receipt. It is the best of both worlds. It is also set up so that if one system fails, the other part will still work.

Unfortunately, we have a double error. First, the human error in coding the software. Then there was an error in doing the logic and accuracy testing. That is where this should have been picked up.

Although this error did only affect appellate court retention races, it screwed up the entire election. McClure has accpted responsibility.

I would not replace this system until its useful life is at an end. Doing so would cost millions in addition to the millions already spent, and would invite more errors as training on any new system is done. The proper thing to do is make sure you thoroughly test the machines. It is clear to me that the L&A testing was botched. ES&S failed to determine what would happen if you voted Yes in one appellate race and No in another. Had that happened on just one machine, the problem would have been discovered.

In any election, there are a finite number of selections possible. This finite number should be determined among the number of races out there and every possible combination should be tested. If you have just one race with four candidates, there are actually 24 different combinations or permulations. This is a branch of mathematics known as combinatorics. In this election with multiple races, there are several hundred thousand permulations. Just arriving at that figure would take me most of a day, let alone testing them.

My own knowledge of math is quite rusty. I am barely competent as a scorekeeper in a game of Hearts. I would not expect any election officials to be familiar with discrete mathematics or factorials. This is why ES&S is used.

I will say that once the machines are nearing the end of their useful life, we should probably join Lehigh and start going exclusively with paper. But I would want to see the ballots maerked with priovacy curtains.

44 comments:

  1. I hope the GOP lawsuit is successful There were numerous errors. It is not surprising you would post the McClure PR piece. He is no misogynist, but he and his gang are arrogant narcissists who love to snark attack others. His attack on the lady is classic McClure. He contributed to her Demo challenger, so he knows who she is.

    He loves to take the credit when he is handing out checks and at his publicity shows but is quick to duck when the fault is his, and it is now. The machines are a tool. He loves to brag about his authority over elections. He has one very important job, and he blew it.

    You both can come up with contorted math problems and excuses but ultimately the conduct of elections is on him. He has a department just for this. Stop blaming the company. People at the county ha TO ensure this did not happen and they failed. How about his new voting hiss under Charlie?

    The countless people turned away from voting, the lack of resources at the polls, the ill trained staff at polls not even turning on their phones. You and he say how great these machines are, the very best you say. I guess you wrote the W Bush speech about," Good Job Brownie" after Katrina.

    You guys are unreal.

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    1. And what have you done to contribute to the situation? Typical…sit on the sidelines and throw balls on the field. Worthless

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  2. Who will be held accountable for closed door meetings and fake hearing in Gettysburg and subsequent effort to seat fake electorates to overthrow an election and the will of the people?

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  3. McLure’s statement was absolutely sexist. He and Milou have been at events together numerous times and there are photos to prove it. He should also know who the handful of state officials are who live in his county or else he isn’t doing his job (he does ask them for state funding all the time after all). So his comment was clearly an attempt to diminish a woman’s standing, even though she is actually in a higher level of office than him. His comment just made him look stupid or petty though. He should apologize. And you shouldn’t be defending such a stupid comment, Bernie.

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    1. 4:01 that’s a great post. He seems like an arrogant asshole if you ask me, and I’m a democrat. He has the personality of a piece wood.

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  4. Isn't Dertinger the one who heads up this division? Someone has got to answer for this embarrassment.

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  5. I was unaware that Lamont wrote code...

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  6. Coming soon to a neighborhood near you, this same machine will register a vote for Trump and give it to Biden. Be concerned, be very concerned!

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    1. I agree, I have very little if not any faith in voting since they got rid of the old manual machines. Always accurate and couldn’t be hacked. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it

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    2. I'm hopeful you're right. Very hopeful!

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    3. You’re a fool

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    4. That would be A.I.....its smarter than the people that think trump is the answer. Trump is the problem AI knows it.

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  7. Unfortunately; if i was on the election committee this election would be a do over. I would not certify this election no matter what or who would insist.

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    Replies
    1. I think we are all fortunate you're not.

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  8. In all fairness, Ramaswamy was also referring to DeSantis...

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  9. No matter how small the errors might have been if those delays and alternate solutions resulted in voters being sent away, or choosing not to vote, DOES affect the entire slate of results. When people don’t vote as planned, every down-ballot choice loses an opportunity to receive that vote.

    You continue to mention President Trump’s ongoing complaints about the 2020 Election. From what I’ve seen and read, Trump is MORE than justified in calling out that surprising result. I firmly believe the Biden victory, and the down-ballot wins of others, are illegitimate. Our nation will not survive if conditions like what happened nationwide in 2020 continue on.

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    Replies
    1. Where’s the proof

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    2. The down ballot wins in 2020 were largely Republicans. So we get rid of them too?

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  10. So sullen and unhappy. That's the lot of an enlightened progressive. Ramaswamy's jab was hilarious, and chickenhawk Haley is far worse than Dick "Shoot Yer Eye Out Kid" Cheney. Be a happy warrior, Bernie. The second thing to go on old coots like you is your sense of humor.

    McClure needn't resign. His messy election plan worked. None of this was a mistake. It was all quite purposeful, and very effective. He'll endure the slings and arrows of running the worst election in the state, because the home team was victorious.

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  11. Is it OK to say that Chris Christie is just Nikki Haley with bigger boobs?

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  12. Well one thing is for certain; namely, that history will show that no one will ever say “Lamont who”. He will be infamous for the way he has “led” Northampton County into darkness. Thank goodness for term limits!

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  13. Alleged election tampering and people lose their minds. Actual election tampering, even if unintentional, and people are like, "Meah, small error. No big deal. Only affected one race and people where turned away from the polls."

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  14. Prior to the 2.9 million dollar purchase ,Senior VP of Product Development ESS Voting machines,
    Mr.Adam Carbulido, sat at council and said to the best of his knowledge, the Express Vote XL machine had not encountered screen “flipping” or “sensitivity” concerns. McClure and Dertinger chose to ignore evidence from many states/counties/concerned citizens of these concerns and pushed for the ESS machines and in 2019 they failed. Errors/excuses were thrown around , and McClure said everything would be rechecked so machine failure would not occur again. Fast forward to 2023….
    Voters once again are facing the same “screen” concerns
    with voter trust deteriorating and no guarantee whatsoever, that the problems can be fixed before one of the most important presidential races ever occurs. Will we have to wait to see if or when the machines will fail? An initial, poorly researched, decision that cost taxpayers millions and voters trust should not be rewarded with second chances.

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  15. Miss Daisy just wants to increase name ID for her son’s hapless run for Congress. Laughingstocks.

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  16. "Oops my bad" isn't enough. But, it will be because the people who could investigate and be punished are the same people who benefit from the outcome. "We investigated ourselves and found nothing out of order." Yea, no kidding.

    Milou who? He knows who she is. He's not that ignorant. That was clearly an intentional snide comment. Sexist? Maybe not, but certainly unprofessional. He's an a**hole for insulting her in such a manner.

    Clown #1 (McClure) and Clown #2 (Dertinger) should pack their bags and not let the door hit them on the way out.

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  17. If another politician made a comment like he did saying " Who" you would be all over them. Calling them sexist,racist, every " ist" there is. But him and bow tie are your boys. Funny thing is as I mature the people I see screaming about things are the ones trying to atone for things in their past life. Sorry trying to be politically correct to an extreme now doesn't change the past

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  18. You want Lehigh’s system? You’ve got to be kidding!

    Lehigh voters don’t even know if their votes are being recorded, or if any of a voters choices are being read by the machine.

    It’s the worst possible system out there.

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    1. Do we really know if our votes are being recorded accurately? Yes that paper inside the machine looked like it had what I wanted, but how do I know the machine actually cast those same votes?

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    2. the paper ballots are collected and can be reviewed if there’s a question about the digital copy

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  19. Chris Christie is Nikki Haley with larger boobs. FACT.

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  20. The same ESS voting system that just failed here in Northampton County has been used in Philadelphia. Of all other places, Philadelphia was rank with suspicious errors and failures during the last Presidential Election. Generally, as Philadelphia goes, so goes our entire state. Hmmm.

    Yes, our current machines should be replaced. Regardless of cost.

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    Replies
    1. Should’ve never gotten rid of the old dinosaur voting machines

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  21. McClure is just a smiling dickhead with a comment like that.
    Don't get all punchy, your people effed it up so take some accountability. If you can't change your people, change your people.

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  22. McClure is definitely sexist. He wanted his wife out of the DA's office -- She's out. He ousted the original females in the Solicitor's office, one even permanently injured while work late in the office. Two HR Director's were shown the door. How many men did he let go.

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  23. Voter confidence is overplayed. Confidence in Lamont is more important. Move along people.
    Bernie has certified it as special math problems, human errors other than Lamont and the best voting machines in the world will never screw up again. Oh, and Lehigh County's machines suck, right Steve. Everything is great.

    Promise!!!!

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  24. Should he resign? Probably not. But his response was arrogant and condescending. He and Dertinger were quick to pass the buck, which is a pattern with them. I saw them in a local place after a council meeting a few years back, believe me they think their shit doesn’t stink like everyone else’s. They weren’t very nice to the bartender. After they left she told me they are assholes and she hates when they come in.

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  25. McLure screwed up. Mackenzie was right to call him out for the mess. OHare looks stupid trying to defend such an obvious cluster****. Seems pretty simple to me!

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  26. Charlie Tuna,Mr. Bow Tie,The County Clown is the one who takes care of the Election Planing and scheduling to get machines programed and checked.He also has maintenance crew doing Election work for him.Him and McClure should both step down!

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  27. Never trust a Democrat, as my dear old Pappy used to say.

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  28. 5:57 PM - When a voter’s ballot is never cast, is mishandled, etc., both Republican and Democrat down ballot candidates don’t get an accurate final total. The ballot questions don’t get an accurate answer, either. It sounds like some voting districts here were not properly prepared to deal with last minute adjustments.

    I don’t believe McClure should resign over this, but each of us needs to accept there are still too many flaws in our ability to meet the many new challenges of easy, widespread elections. Greatly increased increased mail-in ballots, electronic computer malfunctions, staff incompetence, sometime acts of cheating, etc., all have made accuracy more difficult to achieve. The 2020 Election mentioned was a SERIOUS mess throughout this nation. I believe Joe Biden was not the actual winner. Nor were some who came into office with him.

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  29. @4:01AM….McClure’s comments making him look stupid or petty was a natural occurrence because he is those things and more. It will be a long wait, but thank God for the new term limits.

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  30. Until someone can guarantee that the voting machines and the pre testing will be done correctly without screen or code errors popping up, we are at the mercy of technology and fearful administrators to do nothing more than “wait and see”…….a 2.9 million dollar guessing game for the most important presidential race ever.

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  31. A major concern for me was the interpretation and actions of the various poll workers to explain and assist voters with this problem. Seems there were varying advice/interpretations given. I think everyone should have been offered the option of a provisional ballet or whatever a paper ballet is called. Regret I was not smart enough to inquire. But not sure I would have given the same answer depending on poll worker.

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You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.