Daniel Walmer

Lebanon Daily News

LEBANON COUNTY — When several voters at polling locations in a Pennsylvania county previewed their ballots Tuesday after choosing Republican nominee Donald Trump, they saw something strange: it was about to tally a vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

In other cases, voters who attempted to vote a straight-party Republican ticket saw the machine had changed it to a Democratic Party ticket.

Elections officials in Lebanon County blamed the straight-party ticketing issue on a problem with the calibration of five or six electronic voting machines. The other issue, they said, could be the result of oil on a screen could cause a voter's fingers to slip.

Director: Error causes GOP votes to appear Dem

Megan Sweeney, communications director for the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, said the party's legal team would be looking into it. "It's deeply concerning," she said.

Pennsylvania could play a key role in the outcome of the presidential election, and Clinton led here in recent polls. Trump has warned of fraud in Philadelphia and has said the only way he could lose Pennsylvania is if cheating is involved.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said an election fraud task force would have more than than 70 assistant district attorneys and several detectives available to address any Election Day concerns. The Philadelphia Republican Party planned to have more poll watchers and minority inspectors than it did in 2012, according to a party spokesman. And Philadelphia is one of 67 jurisdictions in 28 states where the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice said it will have people on the ground to monitor the election.

Director: Error causes GOP votes to appear Dem

Cameron Kline, a spokesman for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, said local authorities have investigated about 68 complaints, ranging from electioneering violations to improper voter assistance allegations. The incidents, which were referred to the local Election Fraud Task Force, were not raising any alarm.

“Nothing about the numbers are above and beyond what we regularly see,’’ Kline said. “This is nothing out of the ordinary.’’

In Lebanon County, several voters who noticed the straight-party ticket issue alerted their poll workers, who alerted the Bureau of Elections, said Michael Anderson, director of the Lebanon County Bureau of Elections.

The Bureau of Elections has a software expert, who was able to solve the problem in each case and allow the voter to cast the desired ballot, he said.

Anderson said he was not aware of anyone actually casting an incorrect ballot, nor did he know whether there were any instances of a straight Democratic ticket appearing as a straight Republican ticket.

The polling locations where the error occurred include Myerstown Community Library and locations in Annville Township and East Hanover.

Swatara Township resident Fred Stafford, who voted about 8:30 a.m. at the Swatara municipal building, said his ballot changed from Republican to Democratic on the preview screen. Poll workers instructed him to cancel the ballot, but it took several more tries before he got the Republican ticket to work, he said.

Roy Gingrich said he attempted to vote for Trump, but when he arrived at the review screen, it indicated Clinton.

“I was ready to explode in front of everybody, but I just kept my calm,” he said.

Gingrich said he talked to a poll worker, who believed the problem might be oil on the voting screen. After the screen was wiped, he cast his ballot again and it displayed his vote for Trump correctly.

“For the people who believe the election is rigged, this confirms it," said Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, who doesn't himself believe the election is rigged.

Michael Shamos, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and a Pennsylvania election machine expert, said voting machines have to be properly calibrated to correctly register a touch, just like an iPhone or other touch-screen device does. A variety of circumstances can potentially cause the calibration to change, including something as insignificant as a change in temperature, he said.

Pennsylvania Department of State spokeswoman Wanda Murren said the reported incidents this year are not out of the ordinary. There are approximately 25,000 voting machines in Pennsylvania, and a "small percentage" have calibration issues each election, she said.

Contributing: Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY