Department of State to examine voting machines

BY BOB NIEDBALA, Staff writer   Observer Reporter.com   12 January 2005

The Pennsylvania Department of State will examine electronic voting systems in three counties, including Greene, after receiving a petition questioning whether the systems may be susceptible to fraud or malfunctions.

The department will examine the Unilect Corp.'s Patriot electronic voting machine system used in Greene, Mercer and Beaver counties based on a petition filed in October by a Beaver County resident, said Brian McDonald, spokesman for the Department of State.

The petition asked for a review of Unilect's electronic voting system contending the system might be susceptible to malfunctions and fraud, McDonald said.

The department also became aware of questions raised about the system in Mercer County during the Nov. 2 election, when some machines malfunctioned and results showed a significantly lower vote total in the presidential election compared to total ballots cast, he said.

No complaints have been received regarding the machines in Greene County, McDonald said. The department's examination is expected to begin in February and will be completed before the May 17 primary election, he said.

Francis Pratt, county elections office director, said the county has had no major problems with the Unilect system, which it began using in 1998.

Complaints were received in Mercer County during the Nov. 2 election that votes were voided when voters tried to review their choices on the machines. Greene County had no similar complaints, Pratt said. "In fact, we had no malfunctions in our system whatsoever," she said.

Pratt said she believes the Unilect system is no more susceptible to fraud than any other voting system.

The system can't be "hacked" into by outsiders because it is not connected to the Internet, she said. A system of checks and balances also is employed in programming and coding the machines for elections, she said.

In regard to "undervotes," according to Greene County's Nov. 2 election results there were 16,307 ballots cast but only 15,587 votes cast for president. This meant that 720 voters did not cast a vote for a presidential candidate.

"But undervotes are a fact of life," Pratt explained. She noted, for instance, that in the election for U.S. Senate in November, 597 voters failed to vote for a candidate. The county also had undervotes when it used paper ballots, Pratt said.

County Commissioner Pam Snyder also said she has faith in the county's electronic voting system.

Snyder said that as a candidate for office two years ago she personally tested the machines, casting numerous ballots on a machine set up for demonstration in the elections office then checking to make sure the tally was accurate. "Being a candidate myself and testing the machines myself, I found them to be flawless," she said.