BEAVER — In a move that local officials knew was coming, but hadn’t been explicitly handed down until Thursday, the Pennsylvania Department of State is requiring counties to update their voting systems by the end of next year.
The new systems must create a verifiable paper record for each vote that’s cast.
“We have been planning for some time to bring Pennsylvania’s voting machines up to 21st-century standards of security, auditability and resiliency,” Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of State Robert Torres said in a news release.
Torres issued the directive to the state’s 67 counties that new systems be selected by Dec. 31, 2019, but preferably in place before the November 2019 general election.
Thus far, the directive comes with $14.15 million in federal and state funding to defray the cost — about $211,000 per county.
Replacing the machines in Beaver County will cost between $3 million and $5 million, Beaver County Election Bureau Director Dorene Mandity said.
“This is another setback for the county budget,” said Commissioner Daniel Camp, who also is chairman of the county’s election board.
It’s the reason all of the counties in the state are lobbying for more funding options as they face the 2019 deadline, Camp said.
“For several years, counties have been working toward upgrade and replacement of current election systems. Counties recognized that while the current systems are safe, secure and accurate, changes in technology and operating systems require upgrade and replacement on a cyclical basis and offer opportunities to improve voter convenience and access,” said Camp.
Douglas E. Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said in a statement: “The single greatest impediment to system upgrades, though, is the lack of a funding source to meet the estimated $125 million price tag … For counties, the ability to achieve funding is critical. With more than a decade of stagnant appropriations across the spectrum of programs counties provide on the commonwealth’s behalf, few counties have resources on hand to meet the expected cost.”
The directive doesn’t mean there are any issues with the voting systems counties presently use, the Department of State and Mandity both said.
Beaver County’s system has been in place since 2006, when the county spent about $1.8 million to buy 457 machines from Election Systems an Software, an Omaha, Neb.-based company. The purchase was mainly covered by federal funding, Mandity said.
“Our machines work well,” she said, and there have been no issues with the integrity of votes in Beaver County.
“We take a lot of precautions,” Mandity said.
Only one company is certified at present to meet the new requirements, and Mandity said other options need to be given to counties.
Regardless, “I’ll do what I have to do,” she said.