How ballot issues in the 2019 election will be fixed before 2020 presidential race

Sam Ruland | York Daily Record

Show Caption Hide Caption Election Day 'food brings people together' Luther Memorial soup sale helps voters smile Luther Memorial Church ran a soup sale fundraiser for a new parking lot in conjunction with voting at Spring Garden Township 3rd Ward polling place.

Millions of Americans took to the polls Tuesday, casting their ballots to make their voices heard. Yet in Pennsylvania, especially in York County, many faced problems in the voting process before, on and after Election Day — avoidable problems that the state and county need to fix ahead of the presidential primary on April 28.

Some of the problems reported were things voting officials predicted would happen — people didn't read the ballot closely enough and voted for too many candidates. Indeed, most of the problems voters reported can be solved with simple, commonsense reforms.

The most widespread problem — and the most predictable one: technology and voting machine failures. The problems ranged from scanners glitching to having the wrong-sized ballots printed to paper jams to voting machines just breaking down altogether.

Across York County, residents grumbled with complaints:

“The commissioners simply did not provide for enough scanners,” said Jeffrey E. Piccola, chairman of the York County Republican Committee. “They better get more machines next year or they’re going to have a disaster.”

Wendy Lunko, judge of elections for Conewago Township District 1, said the voting experience Tuesday was “horrendous."

“We waited 2½ hours to vote in 2016,” York County resident Valerie Herman said Tuesday. “If things don’t change for next year, we’ll have to camp out.” Herman voted at St. David’s Evangelical Church. She said it took 10 minutes to get in the door at the church and about 45 minutes total to cast her vote.

The paper ballot system, which was new for this election, sparked enough outrage that the Pennsylvania GOP took legal action Tuesday night when they requested an "injunctive relief" to prevent votes from not being counted.

York County agreed ballots would be secured, transported with representatives from both parties and scanned with a high-speed scanner at the courthouse.

"This was complete grandstanding, political posturing to shove in the governor's face," county spokesman Mark Walters said of the Republican Party's legal threats. It was a mandate from Gov. Tom Wolf's administration that counties have a voting system with a verifiable paper trail by the 2020 primary.

More: Pa. election results 2019: What we know about the issues with paper ballots

But even so, the complications Tuesday have made people worried for next year's presidential election and has put pressure on York County Commissioners to divulge what plans they have to address the issues.

So, let's get to it. What are the plans to fix these voting issues?

Adding more scanners. What will that cost?

Pa. Republican Party addresses poll problems GOP Election Day Counsel Rebecca Warren addresses the problems at the polls today in a news conference.

The paper ballot and scanning method was picked because it was considered more cost-effective than other options, said Nikki Suchanic, York County's director of elections. The new voting system still cost the county $1.5 million.

One scanner at each polling location was simply not enough to accommodate for the volume of voters turning out to vote. Also, the two-page ballot also slowed down the scanning process for voters.

“We just didn’t realize it would be as challenging and time consuming to scan the ballots,” President Commissioner Susan Byrnes said Tuesday night.

The county plans to add more scanners before the next election, Byrnes said, but an exact number has not been released.

Walters said one scanner costs around $4,900 — meaning the previous $1.5 million total for the new system could drastically increase.

Condensing polling places

There could also be fewer polling stations next year, Byrnes added.

"For the next election, we’ll be looking at more scanners probably, and considering condensing polling places," she said.

On Tuesday, there were 159 precincts in York County.

Bringing polling places back to school

The county is hoping to seek out schools for new polling locations because they are ADA-compliant, but they also are typically more spacious, Byrnes said.

State Election Code expresses a preference for polling places to be in public buildings, including schools, said Wanda Murren, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of State.

"This is an opportunity now to improve the entire process before April," Byrnes said.

Why did we move to paper ballots anyway?

All counties in Pennsylvania are required to select a new, voter-verifiable paper record voting system by the end of the year, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

It was a call that came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to make sure that by the 2020 presidential election, every American votes on a system that leaves a paper trail.

The Pennsylvania Department of State will be working with York and other counties to resolve any issues that arose during this election, J.J. Abbott, press secretary for Gov. Tom Wolf's office, said via email Tuesday evening.

More than $100 million in funding will cover the majority of the cost of purchases by counties, Abbott said. The new machines are more secure to prevent vote manipulation, he added.

As the President of Verified Voting, Marian Schneider said it is extremely important that state has this paper-ballot system in place.

"We need a voting system that retains a voter's paper ballot in the case of audits or recounts. Without it, the legitimacy of Pennsylvania's elections will be questioned," Schneider said. "In 2016, we were attacked — the way to protect our democracy from attack is a paper ballot."