Pa. releases county-by-county guides for new voting systems
As Fayette and other counties prepare for the April 28 primary, the state government is launching customized step-by-step guides for casting ballots throughout Pennsylvania using new voting systems.
The Pennsylvania Department of State unveiled 67 new web pages – one for every county – this week. As a result of a settlement in a lawsuit filed by Jill Stein, who was the Green Party’s 2016 presidential candidate, state officials announced two years ago that it would require counties to introduce new methods that include a hard copy of each voter’s choices before this year’s primary.
In October, Fayette County commissioners voted to spend $1.4 million on new machines from Dominion Voting in New York at the recommendation of Election Bureau Director Larry Blosser and financial consultant Sam Lynch.
The purchase includes 90 scanners and 90 units that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The county has 77 precincts.
The month before, Washington County’s election board picked Omaha-based Election Systems and Software to provide machines at a cost of $2.9 million. Most counties in the state – including Greene, which selected ES&S’s system a year ago for $742,000 – have already used their new processes at least once.
Greene’s new system was used in both the primary and general elections. The Department of State said a total of 45 counties had new systems in place in time for the general election in November. But ahead of this year’s elections, the agency wants to make sure voters know what they’re doing.
“These customized websites will help ensure that all voters understand how to use the new auditable (sic) voting systems in use in their counties and give all Pennsylvania voters a clear understanding of the voting tools and options available to them,” said Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar.
The new webpages include customized guides for voters, along with contact information for local election offices, key dates and other information.
Most of Fayette County’s voters will use a hand-marked paper ballot, and then use an ImageCast Precinct Scanner to cast the completed ballot.
In Washington and Greene counties, citizens will use a touch screen to pick or write in candidates in the various races, similarly to the counties’ previous systems. Then, results will be printed on a paper ballot for their review. If the printout matches their selections, the voter will put it in a centralized scanning machine, which will tally the votes and store the ballot securely in case of a recount.
The webpages can be found at www.votespa.com under the “new voting systems” tab.