Write-in voting causes most election glitches

Pocono Record May 16, 2007

The large volume of write-in votes during Tuesday’s primary — and misuse of some of the machines in casting hand-written votes — created the most problems in what elections officials call a smooth election.

“There’s always glitches here and there,” said Greg Christine, who serves on the Monroe County Elections Board. “But overall it was pretty smooth.”

“It was very uneventful,” added Voter Registration Chief Sara May-Silfee.

A voting machine in Middle Smithfield Township East jammed when a voter stuck a piece of paper — with a candidate’s name on it — into the shutter slot for write-in votes, said Silfee. Write-in voters are supposed to physically write-in their ions inside the designated slot.

She says the problem was quickly fixed.

“Our runner was there, our machine tech,” Silfee said.

She said other problems developed when voters trying to cast write-in votes forced open the slot for that purpose, rather than waiting for the slot to open automatically.

“People were forcing that door up instead of pushing the red light,” Silfee said. “The door will open automatically.”

There was a brief minor scuffle at the Middle Smithfield Township municipal building when some members of the public raised issues about counting write-in votes in a contentious supervisor’s race, she added.

“They were interfering with the judge (of elections) trying to do their job,” she said. A constable helped calm the situation, she added.

In some voting districts, a few voters created problems by incorrectly writing in candidates’ names on the machine itself, rather than in the write-in slot, she added.

Silfee and Christine had no knowledge of unconfirmed reports that one Middle Smithfield district had more votes cast than the number of people who signed in to vote. They said any problems typically come to light on the Friday after the election, when the elections board begins the process of officially counting and certifying the results.

The vote-counting begins at 9 a.m. Friday at the Monroe County Administrative Center in Stroudsburg. The elections board also will consider any formal challenges.