New voting machines unveiled in Chesco

WEST GOSHEN >> Wanna test drive your 2019 vote?

Chester County’s Department of Voter Services will hold four evening sessions to see the county’s new voting equipment in action, prior to this November’s election.

The new machines were purchased by the county to comply with a requirement by Gov. Tom Wolf that all voting equipment in the state’s 67 counties must be updated to protect against voter interference and outside hacking.

Open house evening demonstrations of the new machines will take place Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Room 171 of the county’s Government Services Center in West Goshen.

Anyone who wishes can attend the sessions, get an introduction to the machines, and run a test ballot through the system. No pre-registration or identification is necessary.

Staff members from Voter Services and from the election equipment vendor Electronic Systems & Software (ES&S) will be on hand each evening to demonstrate the new voting precinct scanners for hand-marked paper ballots and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-accessible ballot marking devices.

The county purchased the new equipment earlier this year after members of the Board of Elections and local election officials held equipment demonstrations in the fall of 2018.

Based on feedback received, the Board of Elections authorized the purchase of the upgraded voting equipment. The county had budgeted $5 million for the purchase, but was able to complete the contract for $2.5 million, with a grant of $582,000 from the state.

“In Pennsylvania, all counties must move to voter-marked paper ballots by November 2020,” said Sandy Burke, the county’s director of Voters Services, in a press release. “Chester County has led the way in using the paper ballot system since 2006, so we are simply introducing upgraded versions of our election equipment instead of a completely different system.”

Voting rights advocates have long supported a dual system like the county’s in which votes are recorded and counted electronically, but have a paper ballot that can act as a back-up to protect against voting fraud.

“Our paper ballot system is time-tested and proven to work very well,” said Burke. “It is a safe, secure and efficient voting system, and the new upgraded machines will serve Chester County well for many future elections.”

The county’s current election equipment and backoffice systems were purchased in 2006. Although the precinct scanners that are currently in use are functional, the back-office systems and overall security features were due for upgrading. The county is keeping the machine in storage for emergency use in future elections. At some future date, they will be returned to the company that sold them to the county and destroyed.

The upgraded equipment is allowing the county to continue to use votermarked paper ballots, but also to purchase new digital scanners for ballot tabulation at the precincts; necessary upgrades to back-office servers and work stations; and improved ballot marking capabilities for voter’s with disabilities, which will provide voters who are unable to hand-mark ballots with an independent and private way to vote with a paper ballot that can be scanned at the precinct.