• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Voting>
  3. election security>

Pennsylvania’s new voting systems face an array of challenges

Bill Theobald
December 10, 2019
Election Systems & Software, Express Vote XL

This machine by Election Systems & Software, certified for use in Pennsylvania, produces a bar code printout rather than a paper copy that a voter can review.

Election Systems & Software

Pennsylvania continues to be a hotspot in the ongoing national campaign to create voting systems that are better able to fend off hacking attempts next year.

Jill Stein, the 2016 Green Party presidential candidate, recently asked a federal judge to declare state officials in violation of a court-approved agreement because they certified a voting system that doesn't generate a readable paper ballot.

And a Republican county official, after being told by state officials he would soon face legal action, changed his mind and said he would support purchasing new voting machines.

Pennsylvania's voting systems carry significance far beyond the state's borders for several reasons. Until recently, it was one of just a handful of states in which votes were still stored electronically without printed ballots. Election security experts say in order to have the best shot at surviving a hacking attempt, voting systems must generate a paper record for each ballot.


Also, Pennsylvania was among 21 states the Department of Homeland Security said Russian operatives unsuccessfully attempted to hack in the last presidential contest, when Donald Trump carried the state by just seven-tenths of a percentage point. A perennial presidential bellwether, Pennsylvania (with 20 electoral votes) now looks like the second biggest prize (after Florida) that nominees of both parties will be genuinely in the hunt for next fall.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

This week, Commissioner Mike Pries of Dauphin County told The Associated Press that after meeting with state officials and being warned of possible legal action, he had decided to vote to buy new machines for the county, which is dominated by the state capital of Harrisburg.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered all counties to purchase new voting machines in time for the 2020 balloting. But officials in Dauphin had signaled theirs would be the only county to defy the order. The county's other commissioners, one Democrat and one Republican, have yet to meet with state officials on the issue.

Stein's legal action focuses on the state's decision to certify the Election Systems & Software ExpressVote XL voting system.

Her court filing says the system violates the agreement she made last year to settle a lawsuit she filed in 2016, when she took less than 1 percent of the statewide presidential vote. The suit declared the "Pennsylvania election system is a national disgrace."

The ExpressVote XL system generates a paper record of votes but only with a barcode. That, the new legal filing argues, violates the settlement agreement, which requires all voting systems in the state to create a readable paper record. Stein asked the judge to rescind the certification of the Express XL system, in use in Philadelphia and other counties.

Elections Systems & Software officials have said their system is secure and meets all of the state requirements.

Pennsylvania's attempt to replace voting machines across the state in time for the May 15 primary has drawn a lot of attention. By the time of last month's local elections, 45 of the state's 67 counties had upgraded their systems and eight more were on their way.

But problems on election night with the touchscreens of the Express Vote XL system used in Northampton County, centered on Easton, forced local officials to hand count ballots.

The Democratic secretary of State, Kathy Boockvar, said that, overall, the election went well. "The election was carried out statewide with little incident," she said. "That's especially impressive given that 45 counties were using new voting systems."

From Your Site Articles
  • Report: Election security vendors should face more oversight - The ... ›
  • What six states reveal about the price of 2020 election security - The ... ›
  • The 13 states where election security matters most - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Election Security - Election Officials | US Election Assistance ... ›
  • 2020 Candidates Views on Election Security: A Voter's Guide ... ›
  • The Crisis of Election Security - The New York Times ›
election security

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Our Staff
11h

Steward leadership

David L. Nevins
16h

Sharing a common fate

Kevin Frazier
16h

Flame retardants in your earbuds? Toxic chemicals in homes? Left and right are sick of It.

Joan Blades
John Gable
31 January

What can replace religion for peace of mind and shared moral values?

Daniel O. Jamison
31 January

Part IV: Reforming constitutional convention campaigns

J.H. Snider
30 January
Videos

Video: How the baby boom changed American politics

Our Staff

Video: What the speakership election tells us about the 118th Congress webinar

Our Staff

Video: We need more bipartisan commitment to democracy: Pennsylvania governor

Our Staff

Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

Our Staff

Video: Veterans for Political Innovation - Who we are

Our Staff

Video: Want to fight polarization? Take a vacation!

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Our Staff
11h

Podcast: Separating news from noise

Our Staff
30 January

Podcast: Deepening democracy in the states

Our Staff
27 January

Podcast: How the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack impacted politics

Our Staff
26 January
Recommended
Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Podcasts
Steward leadership

Steward leadership

Big Picture
Sharing a common fate

Sharing a common fate

Big Picture
Video: How the baby boom changed American politics

Video: How the baby boom changed American politics

Flame retardants in your earbuds? Toxic chemicals in homes? Left and right are sick of It.

Flame retardants in your earbuds? Toxic chemicals in homes? Left and right are sick of It.

Big Picture
What can replace religion for peace of mind and shared moral values?

What can replace religion for peace of mind and shared moral values?

Big Picture