A group examining election security in Pennsylvania urged Congress and state lawmakers Tuesday to speed up the funding required to replace voting machines, noting most lack a paper record needed to check for fraud and errors. The Blue Ribbon Commission on Pennsylvania’s Election Security released interim recommendations and said the estimated $125 million to replace all machines statewide was “a relative bargain.” “Pennsylvania’s elections are at risk,” the interim report said. “And one of the biggest risks is one that we can control — properly funding our election security, including by procuring voting machines that use voter-marked paper ballots.”
The administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said earlier this year that counties buying new electronic voting systems must insure they leave a paper trail. The Pennsylvania Department of State is strongly considering banning the use of machines without a paper trail by the 2020 spring primary.
The Department of State said the report reinforces recent efforts the agency has taken to improve cyber security and get counties to upgrade machines. Pennsylvania’s voting machines are not connected to the internet.
“These voting machines are approaching the end of their useful lives, and we must move forward responsibly based on the nearly unanimous recommendations of security experts to replace them with voting systems that meet current security and accessibility standards, produce a paper record that voters can verify, and enable robust postelection audits,” the agency said.
About four in five voters in the state use machines that lack an auditable paper trial. New, state-of-the-art machines with a paper trail typically cost several thousand dollars apiece.
Full Article: ‘A Relative Bargain’: Election Security Group Urges Funding for $125M Upgrade to Pennsylvania Voting Machines – NBC 10 Philadelphia.