In eastern Pennsylvania, a voting machine company’s clerical error led to confusion among voters when the summary of votes appeared to be switched. The error affected a ballot question on whether two incumbent state appeals judges should be retained or not. Northampton County director of administration, Charles Dertinger, confirmed that voters’ “yes” and “no” votes for each judge were displayed incorrectly, causing uncertainty among voters before they cast their ballot.
Voters were asked to decide whether Pennsylvania Superior Court Judges Jack Panella and Victor Stabile should be retained for additional 10-year terms. Despite the summary error, the county ensured that actual voter choices were accurately recorded by the machines’ backend system and will be tabulated correctly.
Upon noticing the discrepancy on printed voting records produced by the touchscreen machines, voters promptly alerted poll workers, who addressed the issue at the beginning of the voting process on Tuesday morning.
The glitch only affected the two retention votes in Northampton County and did not impact any other races statewide, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. To continue using the machines, the county obtained a court order after discovering the problem.
Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure emphasized the importance of ensuring voters’ confidence and peace of mind in the voting process and expressed frustration regarding the glitch despite being categorized as “relatively minor.”
Election Systems & Software, the voting machine company, took responsibility for the error, attributing it to human error and assuring that it was an isolated incident limited to Northampton County and only affecting the judicial retention question.
This incident is not the first problem experienced by Northampton County with the company’s ExpressVoteXL touchscreen system, raising concerns about the machines’ reliability.
Despite the glitch, retention of statewide judicial incumbents is typically automatic in Pennsylvania, making the practical impact of the error minimal. However, the incident has sparked further scrutiny and debate over the reliability of voting machines in the state.
