Testing of Westmoreland’s 900 voting machines begins

Republican committeewoman Cindy Brown of Ligonier Township said she’s often asked about election integrity when talking with voters.

On Monday, she was one of four members of the public who went to watch Westmoreland County officials test the accuracy of the county’s voting machines with the pivotal November election just weeks away.

“I wanted to be able to come and see for myself the machines are 100% what they say they are,” she said.

The four people who attended Monday’s testing session represented an alltime high, according to Greg McCloskey, director of the Westmoreland County Election Bureau. Ten people expressed interest in stopping by at some point this week to check out the testing, he said.

“I think they care about election integrity, same as all of us sworn officials care about election integrity,” he said. “I think it’s fantastic to see the community getting involved in the election.”

All Pennsylvania counties are required to perform such testing leading up the November general election. About 16 people, a mix of county employees and representatives from Election Systems & Software, got started Monday morning at the bureau’s Greensburg warehouse testing about 900 touch-screen machines to ensure they work properly.

The process is slow and methodical. By the end of the week, officials should know if the machines are good to go for the Nov. 5 election.

Brown and Mike Dorohovich of Derry Township, who also is involved in his local district Republican committee, agreed that they wanted to watch the process so they can report back to others who might have reservations.

“I have a great deal of trust in the system we have in place in this county,” Dorohovich said.

Voting systems coordinator Paul DeFloria demonstrated for the four watchers how casting ballots in Adamsburg Borough would be conducted while testing the accuracy of two machines. Their questions about specific facets of the process were answered by DeFloria and McCloskey.

“We’ve noticed over the years, if there is a problem, it is usually a human error,” DeFloria said.

Voting officials have long maintained the machines used throughout Pennsylvania are safe and secure. The $7.1 million system bought from Election Systems & Software in 2019 in Westmoreland County allows voters to make their selections using a touch-screen computer and confirm their picks on a printed-out paper ballot. Voters then manually insert their completed ballots into a digital scanner that records the votes and stores ballots.

The 2020 presidential election was marked by baseless claims of widespread fraud and failed efforts to overturn results.

Transparency with the public is important, McCloskey said.

“My responsibility is to make sure voters and watchers and authorized representatives all get their questions satisfied to the best of our ability,” he said.

Bibiana Boerio of Unity, secretary of the county’s Democratic committee, said she was familiar with how the process works.

“I am a huge believer that transparency is the right way to run a railroad,” she said. “We need more people defending that we don’t have a broken system.”

Randy Rhoades of Seward focused on more technical questions about the machines.

“I’m interested in the hardware, how it works, to make sure that’s secure,” he said. “I don’t care what party wins, I want to have a fair election.”