With security concerns at the forefront, Pennsylvania Department of State is looking to counties to replace outdated machines in the coming years with ones that leave a paper trail.
But for now, officials in McKean and Potter counties say that the machines are running just fine –– and are not susceptible to hacking.
“We print zero tapes prior to opening the precinct and print results tapes after the polls close,” said Dinah Gallegos, director of McKean County Elections.
The state’s recently issued directive states that voting machines purchased Feb. 9 and beyond must have a voter-verifiable paper ballot or paper record of votes cast.
The machines are not hooked to the internet, so hackers are unable to access the system, said Sandra Lewis, director of the voter registration/elections office in Potter County.
The Center for American Progress sees things differently. The organization recently released a study showing that most state election systems, including Pennsylvania’s, remain vulnerable to hacking and interference by foreign governments. The biggest threat, according to the study, is the continued use of paperless electronic voting machines, which do not leave a reliable paper trail that can be audited to confirm outcomes. The study gave Pennsylvania an unsatisfactory D grade.
In December, an advisory committee to the Joint State Government Commission released a report, “Voting Technology in Pennsylvania,” that highlighted the need for the state to provide that funding, noting that “jurisdictions would not be able to maintain their current electronic voting systems for much longer due to the age of the machines, the scarcity of parts, and the costs of repairs and maintenance.”
Acting Secretary of State Robert Torres said the state’s directive will make sure that the next generation of the commonwealth’s voting systems follows improved standards of resiliency, auditability and security.
“The state is aware that the counties are not able to purchase the machines on their own, so the funding needs to come from somewhere. The cost is going to be much higher than when our current machines were purchased,” Lewis said.
For McKean County, new voting systems could cost in the neighborhood of $500,000, Gallegos said.
“The amount of money it would require to replace our voting machines obviously would depend on the type of system chosen,” she said.
Gallegos said she doesn’t believe the county would be able to afford all of the equipment by relying solely on local tax dollars.
League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania shared some insight into the recent directive.
“The governor’s directive is an important first step in modernizing and securing our elections, because it acknowledges that we need to do more,” said Susan Carty, president of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. “But admitting a problem exists isn’t fixing the problem. It is absolutely essential for the state to provide funding to replace machines that in some cases are now almost 20 years old.”
McKean County has about 110 voting machines, and they are 12 years old this year. Potter County has 73 machines, purchased in 2006.
