EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County voted for 25 of the last 28 presidential-election winners, dating back to Woodrow Wilson in 1912, so officials in this Pennsylvania bellwether want to ensure their voting machines run smoothly in what’s sure to be another squeaker this November.
“The law requires the public to be able to view this testing, which we think is very important,” Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure told The Post.
Members of McClure’s staff and a handful of spectators were among those who packed into a small room at the county courthouse Tuesday to watch employees demonstrate the use of DS Central Count Scanners.
Northampton County Registrar Chris Commini told The Post these machines — which the county acquired in 2019 — operate by sorting ballots onto three shelves.
“What you’re basically trying to make sure is that every iteration of a vote on a ballot gets captured,” Commini said.
The machine sends a correctly counted ballot to the bottom shelf, a ballot with write-ins to the middle shelf and an improperly read ballot to the top shelf. Improper ballots must be run back through the machine four times or be transferred to a new ballot during the county’s canvassing period.
“With that pattern, you should be capturing every iteration that a voter would use,” the registrar said.
Northampton County ran into trouble with the machines in 2019 and 2023, as technical glitches led to printouts not matching voters’ choices in a down-ballot judicial race and for a “yes or no” ballot question, respectively.
Despite the past issues, McClure said the results ultimately held both times.
“In the years we had problems — ’19 and ’23 — no aggrieved candidate filed a lawsuit,” the county exec told The Post. “No one challenged any of the results of the elections.”
“We put on legal, fair and accurate elections here,” added McClure, a Democrat.
One notable spectator in attendance Tuesday, Northampton County GOP Chairman Glenn Geissinger, told The Post he believes county employees are dedicated to ensuring a fair election process.
Still, the chairman is concerned about the efficacy of voting machines in general.
“I’m still not comfortable with the machines we have,” Geissinger said. “They’ve proven multiple times that their competency level isn’t here.”
