NorCo Council Spurns Elections Official Request to Delay Referendum Vote on DA Term Limits

One of the biggest concerns I have about American democracy are the constant attempts to undermine public confidence in the integrity of our elections system. Unfortunately, that's precisely what NorCo Voting Registrar Chris Commini unwittingly did at Thursday night's County Council meeting. 

The Presidential election scheduled for November 5 includes a referendum question on term limits for the District Attorney pursuant to an Ordinance adopted last year. Commini told Council that November's election "is probably the most consequential that we're ever going to see." He said he was concerned that including a question on the ballot might cause a problem with the Express Vote XL and said that the problems in 2019 and 2023 were caused by the addition of a question. 

This is simply wrong. The problems in 2019 involved improperly aligned machines and retention votes, and those in 2023 involved a coding error and retention votes.  There has never been an issue with referenda questions. 

Commini then went on to ask Council to move the referendum question scheduled for November to the next year's municipal primary to avoid any potential issues it could cause in a Presidential election. 

His request betrays his own lack of confidence in our voting system. He said he wanted to avoid "another human error issue on a question." His request was rightly and flatly rejected. 

Council member John Goffredo told Commini, "If we have this hard of a time getting a machine to answer a simple Yes or No question, we need to seriously consider why we're using the machines. We passed an ordinance, which is now law. It needs to be on and that's it. If you can't get it done, we're going to have to continue to find people who can do it. I don't know why this is being brought to us, I have no idea, it seems ridiculous." 

Council President Lori Vargo Heffner told Commini that County Council is willing to appropriate whatever resources are needed to ensure a smooth election but does not wish to see perceived problems pushed down the road. "This is our business, and this is our job. We want to support you in doing your job." 

Postponing a vote would be the exact opposite. 

"We need to have confidence that we can do this right," added Goffredo. "It should be a priority for this administration to have this on there. I hope you [put] everybody's minds at ease and say, yes, no problem, with these sophisticated expensive machines."

"No problem," responded Commini. 

The Express Vote XL Lawsuits

Pa. Sec'y of State Kathy Boockvar tries ExpressVote XL

There are now two lawsuits challenging the continued use of the $2.9 million Express Vote XL voting system in Northampton County. The first of these, filed in federal court is courtesy of failed presidential candidate Jill Stein.  The second, filed in Commonwealth Court, includes outgoing Council member Bob Werner as a Plaintiff. In the unlikely event that either suit succeeds, Northampton County would have no choice but to scramble and spend millions for another voting system. In addition to costing the County money that has not been budgeted,  it would create a logistical nightmare for elections staff who have already invested a lot of time and energy into improving the system we have.

The Commonwealth Court Lawsuit

Had Bob Werner thought a new system was needed, he should have voted No to the budget unless it was amended to set aside money for something new. Instead he said nothing and joined a lawsuit. This is irresponsible.

Strangely, this lawsuit was first reported in The Washington Post, and offers little more support than "hacking fears."

This should have a short shelf life.

The Federal Lawsuit 
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On Thursday, the state responded to Jill Stein's attempt to bar the use of The ExpressVote XL.

It claims that Stein was well aware the state intended to certify the Express Vote XL, and posed no objection to its use until nearly a year had gone by.

In that year, both Philadelphia and Northampton County purchased and began using ExpressVote XL systems. Cumberland County has also purchased this system. "[T]hese counties expended significant funds and time on reviewing and procuring ExpressVote XL machines, and training personnel and educating voters in their use," the state observes in its response. "Under these circumstances, the doctrine of laches applies and precludes the relief Plaintiffs seek."

Laches is an equitable principle protecting defendants against unreasonable delay in filing a suit if they are prejudiced by that delay.

Judge Diamond has given Stein until Wednesday to respond to the state.

It's pretty clear to me that both lawsuits, accompanied by news releases and public pronouncements about hacking and other nonsense, are designed to disrupt the 2020 Presidential election and undermine public confidence in our most important right.

The Express Times, no fan of Northampton County's new voting system, said it best.

"Alas, an all-paper system might have been the better choice, but it’s too late now. Changing horses in the raging torrent of the 2020 elections is frightening. On such short notice, it carries its own set of potential screw-ups.

"The mandate for Northampton County and ES&S to get it right couldn’t be clearer: Do several dry runs to trouble-shoot everything. Hold open meetings to demonstrate the machines. Invite the public to tryouts. Double up on training for county election workers. Have ES&S representatives at the polls as well as the courthouse. Hire more election workers.

"And be prepared for a deluge of mail-in votes in 2020. It might be the only paper backup that some voters trust."

Express Vote XL Vendor to Explain What Went Wrong in Nov Election

Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, along with representatives for the Express Vote XL voting system, have scheduled a news conference at 1 pm today to discuss arising significant issues during the rollout of this $2.9 million hybrid touch screen and paper ballot system. Some voters complained they had difficulties making choices in the retention race. More importantly, at the end of the night, when the polls closed, most of the printouts showed that Democratic judicial candidate Abe Kassis had zero votes. A scan of the paper ballots, conducted election night and into the early morning hours, showed that Kassis had actually won.

The Express Vote XL voting system is a product of Electronic Systems & Software (ES&S), a wholly owned subsidiary of The McCarthy Group. It is the largest manufacturer of voting systems in the United States, including paper ballot systems like the one used in Lehigh County. ES&S Senior VP Adam Carbullido will be at the news conference, and both he and McClure will report their findings to County Council later that day.

How Did Northampton County Get The Express Vote XL?

You can blame failed Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein, along with Governor Tom Wolf. In 2016, she filed a bizarre lawsuit demanding a recount and attacking the various systems used to count votes throughout the state. Judge Paul S. Diamond gutted most of the suit, noting that Stein had presented "no authority recognizing a right to have one’s vote verified through any procedure," let alone paper ballots. He also said Stein's fear of vote tampering in “borders on the irrational.”

Though her lawsuit was on life support, Governor Tom Wolf nevertheless settled. He commanded all 67 counties, in late 2018 unfunded mandate, to acquire voting systems that include voter-verifiable paper ballots. What's more, they had to be in place in time for the 2020 presidential election. No consideration was given to the logistics of such a demand or the financial burden it imposed on counties.

The Express Vote XL was the choice of the vast majority of about 30 election judges who viewed four different systems in Lehigh County. It was the choice of Northampton County's Election Commission, who recommended it to Northampton County Council by a 3-2 vote on March 6, following a contentious meeting pitting election judges against paper ballot purists.

Arguing in favor of The Express Vote XL was GOP Chair Lee Snover. "We're not a third world country," she assserted. "We have technology for a reason. I don't want anyone determining the intent of my vote except for me and the machine."

Before accepting this recommendation, Northampton County Council waited to see how the system performed in Delaware's primary. Council finally approved the purchase on May 16 after the system received a glowing recommendation from Delaware election officials.

Numerous election judges and poll workers spoke in support of the new system. They argued it would be familiar to voters and present none of the privacy concerns or multiple lines that would accompany paper ballots.

In addition to election judges, Elections Commissioner Maude Hornick said she supported ExpressVote XL because she wants no election official to decide how she intended to vote.

Trudy Fatzinger, Secretary of Pennsylvania Council for the Blind, reported that ExpressVote XL is handicapped-friendly. This was a selling point to Executive Lamont McClure, who observed that 25% of Pennsylvania's registered voters have some form of disability.

The sole dissenter was lameduck Robert Werner, who argued illogically that because an old touchscreen voting machine could be reversed engineered, it necessarily follows that the Express Vote XL would be vulnerable, too. This is what is known in logic class as a fallacy.

Why Did It Take So Long To Find Out What Went Wrong?

Immediately after the election, a court order impounded the voting system in anticipation of a possible challenge. So ES&S was unable to look at the system until November 26, the last day on which a challenge could be filed. The company was legally unable to look at the machines until late November.

Questions to Be Answered at News Conference

1) What did voters have issues using the touchscreen, and how is this being resolved?

2) Why did the printed returns contain incorrect vote totals, and how is this being resolved?

3) Why were these glaring errors missed in the "logic and accuracy" testing done on each machine prior to an election, and what steps are being taken to ensure that these kinds of mistakes are caught before an election?

4) What is the County doing to ensure the Presidential election runs as smoothly as is possible?