Pennsylvania agrees to start publicly reporting voting machine problems

By MICHAEL RICHTER
mrichter@yourmvi.com
Starting in November, Pennsylvania will now require counties to report election machine malfunctions, which will be posted on the Department of State’s website, as result of a settlement between the commonwealth and groups of election-security advocates.
Each county in Pennsylvania must submit a “Malfunctions and Certification” report to the Department of State within 60 days of each election. This must include a list of all malfunctions reported to the county by any source, or a declaration that states the county did not observe nor was it informed of any voting machine mishaps. The Department of State then has up to 105 days after each election to disclose the information from each county online.
The settlement agreement states that a “malfunction” applies to an issue that delays or prevents voters from casting a ballot or the process of adding up votes.
Officials in Washington County think it is possible that the new voting machine procedures could engender more trust in elections from the public.

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