Luzerne County starts required voting equipment testing

Luzerne County started required testing Thursday of voting equipment that will be used in the Nov. 3 general election.

The county had switched to a new voting system from Hart InterCivic in the May 19 primary, but an older version was temporarily used as the company awaited state certification for its new Vanguard model.

With state approval secured, the county will use the Vanguard system in the upcoming general.

This county is the first in the state to use the Vanguard model, county Election Director Emily Cook told attendees at the opening demonstration for the mandatory “logic and accuracy” testing at the county voting machine warehouse on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Voters must fill out selections on paper ballots and then feed them into Hart InterCivic scanners for tallying. The prior system required voters to make selections on computerized Dominion Voting Systems touchscreen ballot-marking devices, print the ballot for review, and then feed it into a tabulator.

One Hart InterCivic electronic ballot marking device must still be set up at each of the 186 voting precincts to accommodate those with disabilities.

County Election Board Chairwoman Christine Boyle asked Cook if she has encountered any surprises with the new Vanguard system.

Cook said nothing notable was found with equipment already set up for poll worker training that begins Friday.

Boyle questioned if the experience of voters will be “pretty much the same” as it was using the temporary Hart InterCivic equipment in the primary.

Cook said yes, but she noted the new scanners are “quicker.”

While the old and new systems are “very similar,” Cook has said the Vanguard model is more efficient, lighter, and easier for poll workers to set up. New training for both staff and poll workers is necessary due to slight differences in the equipment, she has said.

Prior county controller Walter Griffith asked how poll workers are acclimating to the Hart InterCivic system.

Cook said she received positive feedback from poll workers in the primary, and the Vanguard model is “even easier to use.”

“Our poll workers have taken to these machines very well,” Cook said.

Griffith and Plains Township resident Joe Granteed inquired about personnel handling the testing.

Six full-time county election bureau workers will perform the work over an estimated two weeks, Cook said, describing it as a giant mock election conducted with each scanner/tabulator and ballot marking device — a total 372 pieces of equipment that must be tested.

Hart InterCivic representatives are not needed because the county can now handle the testing in-house, Cook said. In comparison, the county relied heavily on Dominion representatives for testing of that equipment “due to the complexity of the voting system,” Cook said.

Cook stressed Hart InterCivic representatives are available as needed and will be here on Election Day.

Granteed asked how the county prevents tampering of equipment.

Cook said seals are placed on each piece of equipment after it passes testing.

Voting equipment and other election supplies are placed in a secure cage for each polling place, and those cages are also locked with a seal added, she said. Poll workers must follow protocols to unseal both the cages and equipment on Election Day, she said.

She also demonstrated two-step authentication — a card and password — for administrative access to the voting equipment.

The county is leasing the Hart InterCivic equipment for $574,000 annually for five years, including equipment, software, maintenance, and support services.

Mail ballots, poll workers

In another update Thursday, Cook said Nov. 3 general election ballots should be mailed early next week to approximately 25,500 voters who requested them.

Cook said the ballots could not be sent this week as initially projected because of the work involved in processing them for mailing.

The deadline to issue general election mail ballots is Oct. 20, but Cook has been getting them out sooner, when possible, to ensure voters have ample time to receive, complete, and return them by 8 p.m. on Election Day. The ballots must be physically in the bureau by that deadline because postmarks do not count.

The mail ballot drop box schedule has been posted on the election page at luzernecounty.org.

Cook said the county currently has a sufficient number of poll workers signed up to cover all general election polling places, but more may be needed to fill in for vacancies that typically arise due to sickness or other reasons.

Spanish-speaking residents are also needed for the Hazleton area.

Application information is available on the election page at luzernecounty.org.

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