Pennsylvania: Voting machines in Northampton County have issues in Supreme Court justices' retention election

The Northampton County Elections Office reported a technical problem with its voting machines for the Pennsylvania Superior Court judge retention election.

This Tuesday, Pennsylvania voters seek to resolve four statewide judicial races. However, during the day, a problem arose when recording the votes on the retention election of judges Jack Panella and Victor P. Stabile.

According to a statement published by the Northampton Electoral Office, when a voter selected the “yes” or “no” option on their ballot when voting if they believe that the judges should continue in office, the ballot came out with the wrong choice.

“It appears that when a voter selects a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ for one of the candidates for retention to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, the selection is recorded on the paper ballot and on the machine for the other candidate,” indicates the statement.

Given this situation, the office asked all election workers to inform voters of the problem before entering the voting booth.

“The Elections Division of the County of Northampton notified all poll workers by text message that they are to instruct voters before the voter enters the voting booth that there is an issue (...) that the paper receipt will record their selection for retention to the Pennsylvania Superior Court one candidate to the other candidate.”

The problems started early

The Pennsylvania Department of State reported that it learned of the problem with the voting machines shortly before 9 a.m.

Second problem in five years

According to a report from Lehigh Valley News.com, this is not the first time voting machines have experienced a problem in Northampton County.

According to the news source, the county acquired these machines in 2019 as part of the electoral system update. However, in their first use, the county experienced problems with the touch screens, making it difficult for voters to select their candidate correctly.