Northampton County certifies election results despite opposition from large crowd
Northampton County certifies election results despite opposition from large crowd
Complaints about voting machines dominate meeting
The Northampton County Election Commission Tuesday evening certified the Nov. 7 election results, despite impassioned pleas to the contrary from voters frustrated with voting machine problems that they said raised questions about the validity of vote totals.
However, the board’s solicitor, Richard Santee, explained that state law requires certification absent any recount or other court challenges, noting there had been none.
Shortly after the polls opened on Election Day, election workers discovered voting machines switched votes – yes or no – on a paper summary of voters’ selections in only two contests: Superior Court retention questions involving President Judge Jack Panella (a former Northampton County judge) and Judge Victor P. Stabile.
To view more photos from the Election Commission meeting, go to Northampton Co. Election Certification 2023 - Images | donnafisherphoto.com
After determining the votes were recorded properly on the 300-plus voting machines, county officials said voters could resume using the machines. That was around 9:15 a.m. While the machines were not used, voters at the county’s 156 precincts filled out 235 provisional ballots and 2,160 emergency ballots.
The five commission members did not take a formal vote whether to certify. Instead they signed certification paperwork. Only one member, Scott Hough, did not. During the meeting, he expressed frustration with the election problems, at one point noting that no one knows how many voters were turned away during the period that machines were not used.
That was the backdrop for Tuesday's Election Commission meeting. Generally, certification of the vote is a routine matter that takes minutes. But the meeting, held in the county cafeteria to hold an overflow crowd that exceeded 100, lasted nearly four hours.
One by one, more than 40 voters spoke, a majority of whom argued that the commission should not certify the results, citing distrust of the process, chaotic scenes at some polling places, contradictory instructions from poll workers, a shortage of emergency paper ballots, a lack of privacy when filling out the ballots and reports that some people were told to return later to vote.
Returning to paper ballots was an option pushed by several speakers.
Al Smith, a Republican committeeman from Nazareth, said he could build new voting machines: “A box with a slot. I am a carpenter. I can do it.”
“There is a serious problem with this election,” said Jason Boulette, who won a seat on Wind Gap Council. He compared the insufficient amount of emergency ballots at some polling places to not having “enough lifeboats on the Titanic.”
“Voters are already losing confidence in the integrity of our election system,” according to a statement from Frank DeVito of Bath. “When machines malfunction and appear to be switching votes, confidence is undermined. Yes, the authorities apparently clarified that only those two retention races were affected … But when people vote one way and see a different result appear on their receipt, they are right to doubt the accuracy of the system.”
DeVito was not at the meeting but his statement was read by Beverly Hernandez, a former officer of the Northampton County League of Women Voters and a member of the Pennsylvania Integrity Network.
Robin Gibbon of Bethlehem Township, who saw problems firsthand as a poll worker in Hanover Township, was more blunt in her assessment: “This is an embarrassment for the state of Pennsylvania.”
State Rep. Milou Mackenzie (R-131), a resident of Lower Saucon Township, said county Executive Lamont McClure should resign because of the voting machine problems. McClure was at a county budget hearing and did not attend the meeting.
Glenn Geissinger, chairman of the county Republican Committee, said, “I implore you for the sake of everybody, for the sake of the 2024 election, for the sake of the fact that the people of Northampton County deserve to know that their ballot has been cast and counted correctly.”
He urged commission members to conduct an investigation, to not certify the election and “do not allow these machines to be allowed to be used again in Northampton County.”
Geissinger said after the meeting that he will consult with committee lawyers to decide whether to file a lawsuit over the election machine malfunction.
About a dozen people, however, urged the board to certify the results. One was Geissinger’s Democratic counterpart, Matt Munsey.
“Obviously we had some major problems this year as the number of people in this room demonstrates,” he said. “One voter being turned away is one voter too many. And that is something we should make sure never happens again. … Today the only option is to certify.”
Victoria Opthof-Cordaro, who was among three Democrats elected to Lower Saucon Council, said, “If you do not certify the election … it would disenfranchise thousands and thousands of people” who voted. She was among several township residents at the meeting who supported certification.
Last week, the township council, concerned about the machine problems, voted 4-1 to create an online incident report site where voters can relate problems they encountered.
County officials acknowledged more extensive training for poll workers and more thorough testing protocols for voting machines are needed.
After listening to voters, commission members had their turn, questioning Adam Carbullido, vice president of Election Systems & Software, the Omaha, Nebraska, company that manufactures the ExpressVote XL machines used by the county.
Similar problems with the machines, manufactured by Election Systems & Software, occurred in November 2019, when the county first used them in a general election. The county paid $2.8 million for the machines in 2019 under a five-year contract that expires next year.
“It was not very pleasant to hear but it was important to hear,” Carbullido said. He acknowledged that the problem was caused by an error by one of the company’s employees. He also said the problem was not picked up during testing. He said the company will improve its testing procedures to make sure such a problem does not recur so any issues will be picked up during testing.
Carbullido said the voting machines could not be reprogrammed to fix the problem on Election Day, saying it was “logistically impossible.”
Katherine Reinhard contributed to this report.