(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) It was confirmed by a top executive from the company behind the voting machines that “flipped votes” in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that someone from their team “programmed the election.”
On Tuesday, officials said that the voting machine issued caused votes in an eastern Pennsylvania county to appear to be “flipped” on a ballot question, according to Slay News.
The news source added that voters were asked to decide whether Pennsylvania Superior Court Judges Jack Panella and Victor Stabile should be retained for additional 10-year terms.
Charles Dertinger, the Northampton County director of administration, said that the “yes” or “no” votes for each judge were switched on a summary displayed to voters before they cast their ballot.
For example, it was reflected as “no” on Panella and “yes” on Stabile if a voter marked “yes” to retain Panella and “no” on Stabile.
The error was noticed by voters on the printed voting records produced by the touchscreen machines, which resulted in the issue being brought to the attention of poll workers shortly after the start of voting on Tuesday morning.
Dertinger insisted during a news conference in Easton on Tuesday afternoon that votes would be tabulated accurately.
Slay News reported that the issue affected all the county’s voting machines that were in use on Tuesday, estimated at more than 300.
The problem was isolated to the two retention votes in Northampton County and no other races statewide were affected, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
After the problem was discovered that allowed the machines to continue to be used, the county obtained a court order on Tuesday.
As expected, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure called the glitch a “relatively minor glitch,” adding in his statement that “everybody’s vote’s going to count” as the voters intended.
As a result, poll workers were instructed to inform voters of the glitch before they entered the voting booth.
The company responsible for the problem — Omaha, Neb.-based ES&S — acknowledged its fault, with a company spokesperson, Katina Granger, saying that the problem was caused by “human error.” Granger also added that the problem was limited to Northampton County and only affected the judicial retention question.
“We deeply regret what has occurred today,” Linda Bennett, the company’s senior vice president of customer operations, said.
