McKean County elections officials can breath a sigh of relief.
The primary election in May will be electronic after all.
On Thursday, the state Supreme Court overturned a ruling by a
lower court which called for counties statewide to hold a
referendum before purchasing electronic voting machines, per
federal law.
The original opinion set off a firestorm of debate and worry, as
counties were faced with the prospect of using paper ballots in the
midst of federal and state elections. The lever-type machines used
in McKean County and elsewhere were decertified by the federal
government following the 2000 Bush-Gore presidential race, which
was eventually settled in the U.S. Supreme Court as a result of
Florida’s protracted ballot review.
“Hooray for the Supreme Court,” McKean County Director of
Elections Judy Ordiway said when contacted about the ruling. “While
I anticipated it would take longer, I’m glad it’s over with.”
The ruling paves the way for the county to complete its order
for the electronic voting machines – which must be in place by the
May 16 primary.
“Our purchase orders are going out to the Department of State
tomorrow (Friday),” Ordiway said. “We do know that four
demonstration machines are going to be delivered any day now.”
Ordiway said county election officials were instructed by the
Department of State to move forward with ordering the machines,
despite the uncertainty surrounding the court’s ruling.
In the case, a group of residents in Westmoreland County sued
the county in Commonwealth Court over its purchase of electronic
machines without first having a voter referendum. The voters argued
the state Constitution requires a referendum on such an issue. The
issue was eventually appealed to the Supreme Court.
Counties are required to install the electronic machines under
the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). If the lower court ruling
would have stood, local voters would have used paper ballots to
cast their choices for U.S. senator and representative, governor
and a handful of state representatives.
During Tuesday’s county commissioners meeting, two of the
commissioners indicated while printing the paper ballots would be
of minor cost to the county – which was one of 24 counties
statewide where the changeover in machines needed to take place –
it would be nearly impossible for a referendum to be drawn up and
completed by the primary election.
Some officials were even concerned the election itself might
have to be pushed back.
Ordiway said the county currently has $320,000 in HAVA funding
available to purchase the new machines through the Department of
State.
The county – which has a total of 42 precincts – has
historically used lever-type machines in 40 of them. Two other
precincts, Sergeant and Corydon townships, had been using paper
ballots. That changed, however, when Corydon Township voted by
referendum last year to join the rest of the county in using
electronic machines, leaving Sergeant as the only paper ballot
precinct.
Now that the ruling has cleared the way for the electronic
machines, Ordiway said the training process for elections officials
and those working the polling stations will begin shortly, with
voter outreach sessions taking place not long after that.
Ordiway said she expects some poll workers will be used to teach
residents during the outreach programs.
The county will be using machines supplied by Electronics
Systems Software (ESS), which have been described as touch screen
devices that are fairly easy to use.
Allison Hrestak, a spokesperson for the State Department, told
The Associated Press the systems certified thus far have internal
systems which record the total votes cast on each machine and can
produce paper reports to use in potential recounts.
The final and official count, however, will still lay in the
hands of local elections officials in each county.
