Elections judge tells Northumberland County commissioners voting machines failed during primary; urges paper-ballot backup

Susan Ley, a judge of elections for West Chillisquakei, told the Northumberland County Board of Commissioners during public comment that repeated voting-machine failures left her precinct understaffed and voters turned away during the primary election. "This primary election, I had two machines. The first one wasn't working until 8:00. I never had the second machine working until 1 almost 1:30, that left me two machines idle for the whole day," Ley said.

Ley said West Chillisquakei has about 1,600 registered voters and that she had requested five machines for the precinct but "never got them," adding that the delays caused some voters to leave rather than wait. She urged the commissioners to either fully refurbish the existing units, acquire new machines, or allow paper ballots in the event of equipment failure to avoid the same problems in the November general election.

In response, commissioners said the county purchased its current machines under a state mandate and received reimbursement, but that the county has continued to experience problems since the new equipment was implemented. "But we were mandated by the state. Our old machines were way better," one commissioner said, noting the financial constraints of buying replacements.

Commissioners and staff discussed short-term options: assigning spare machines to precincts, counting emergency paper ballots similarly to mail-in ballots, and improving transportation and handling protocols after officials identified transportation-related glitches that may have contributed to failures in the field. "Maybe we can do paper ballots as a backup that if the machines break where you are ... we just hand out paper ballots and we would have to count those like we do with the mail-in ballots," a commissioner said.

The board said it will follow up with the elections office to explore assigning additional spare machines and the feasibility of an on-site paper-ballot backup for election day. No formal action or vote on changing equipment policy occurred at the meeting; commissioners agreed to continue the discussion with elections staff before the next meeting.