Pennsylvania: Elections officials from Lehigh County, elsewhere tell lawmakers of problems with state’s aging electronic voter registration system | Ford Turner/The Morning Call
The electronic backbone of Pennsylvania’s election system — the software that holds every voter’s registration data and election participation — is being replaced, to the “rejoicing” of elections officials statewide. Lehigh County Election Board Chief Clerk Timothy Benyo used that word Thursday during a hearing as he and others spoke on the pending replacement of the State Uniform Registry of Electors system. The replacement plan started long before the partisan chaos of the presidential election. Snyder County Commissioner Joseph Kantz — with agreement from Benyo — ticked off a laundry list of complaints about the current system, which is nearly 20 years old. They include inadvertent sending of printouts to other counties, misplaced “batches” of voter applications in the system, and system downtime. “Focusing on the future, the Department of State is moving forward with a replacement system and all 67 counties are rejoicing with that announcement,” Benyo said. A company whose name was not given during the hearing has been selected to provide the new system that will host the so-called SURE database. A department spokesperson was not available to answer questions. “We are on a timeline that would actually deliver this before the primary of next year,” Department of State Deputy Secretary Jonathan Marks testified. Marks said counties would help customize the new SURE system over the next 12 months. Lebanon County Director of Elections Michael Anderson said the target implementation date is February 2022.