Pennsylvania: Amid fears of Election Day chaos, one county prepares for anxious days after the vote | Marc Fisher/The Washington Post

In Erie County, Pa., either Joe Biden or President Trump is showing up every week now, and the anxiety level is through the roof.There’s fear of neighbors: On Election Day, self-appointed guardians armed with assault weapons plan to take up positions outside local polling places. There’s fear of outsiders: A Ku Klux Klan group from out of state recently dropped racist fliers on the driveways of some homes with Biden signs on the lawns. And there’s fear of what’s coming Nov. 3: The county sheriff doesn’t have nearly enough deputies to keep eyes on all 149 polls. In one of the most important battlegrounds in one of the most critical swing states in the 2020 presidential race, the Republican county chairman, Verel Salmon, 73, sees “passion like never before in my lifetime, for good and bad, and I started with ‘I Like Ike.’ I don’t think I’ve heard a single optimistic thing this year.”

Tennessee: Shelby County Commission rejects contract for voting system | Bill Dries/Daily Memphian

A $5.8 million contract for a new voting system in Shelby County fell one vote short of the seven needed from the Shelby County County Commission Monday, Oct. 12, in a move that critics say could delay the local vote count in the upcoming presidential election. While the election system wouldn’t have been used until the 2022 elections, the Election Commission sought approval to buy the system in order to have ballot scanners to process an expected increase in absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 election in less than a month. Ultimately, however, county commissioners had too many problems with a call by the Election Commission to approve the entire contract or nothing at all. Commissioners, therefore, voted down the system 6-5.Commissioners also expressed reservations about changes in the bid terms for the number of scanners before the Election Commission approved the contract with ES&S LLC of Omaha, Nebraska, and sent it to the County Commission. Election Commission administrators increased the number of ballot scanners, upping the dollar amount of the contract by $1.1 million after realizing none of the firms bidding for the contract realized that by state law, such scanners can only process a maximum of 9,999 ballots each in an election night count.

Texas Republicans’ challenge to Harris County drive-thru voting dismissed | Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune

Drive-thru and curbside voting programs in Harris County can continue after a state appeals court Wednesday quickly threw out a last-minute lawsuit filed by the Texas Republican Party challenging the county’s efforts to provide more voting options during the coronavirus pandemic. The state GOP had filed suit Monday night asking the court to place limits on curbside voting and halt drive-thru voting. The appellate judges said the party and a voter who filed the suit did so too late, and did not show how they specifically might be injured by the voting practices. The lawsuit was filed just hours before early voting polls opened and more than a month after the Harris County Clerk announced his plan for drive-thru voting. “The election is currently in progress and the relators delayed filing this mandamus until over a month after learning of the actions of the Harris County Clerk’s Office,” the panel of three judges on Texas’ 14th Court of Appeals wrote in their ruling dismissing the case.

Virginia audits its elections every year – but state law renders the check powerless to fix mistakes | Mike Valerio/WUSA

Each election year, Virginia conducts a meticulous audit of its election system to ensure each voter the marks on their ballot are accurately recorded by voting machines. It’s called a “risk-limiting audit” – the gold standard of election integrity checks nation-wide. Ballots are hand-examined, and compared against computer records. The process ensures that bugs in election machines, dust-blocking ballot scanners or occasional software glitches are caught and no vote is inadvertently altered. But in Virginia, this meticulous audit takes place only after the results of the November 3 election are certified. That means potentially erroneous election results cannot be changed. By state law, “an audit shall have no effect on the election results.”

Michigan judge allows ‘Cyber Ninjas’ to refute report on election errors in lingering lawsuit | Gus Burns/mlive.com

A Michigan judge on Monday said he’ll allow a dozen tech and election experts, including the Florida firm Cyber Ninjas and others who alleged election fraud following the November presidential election, to refute a secretary of state election report that determined mistakes in Michigan voting results were caused by human error and didn’t signal vulnerability or tampering with election machines. Cyber Ninjas is the name of a Florida-based consulting firm owned by Doug Logan, who’s expressed support for election fraud “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theories on social media. The company was recently hired by the Republican-majority Arizona Legislature to conduct an audit of election results in Maricopa County. That audit began last week. Now the Cyber Ninjas, as well as other experts put forth by the plaintiff in an ongoing election fraud lawsuit, are likely going to weigh in on challenges to results in Michigan’s Antrim County. Many of the experts have been involved in other election challenges across the nation, sometimes espousing debunked data in support of their election fraud claims. Proposed experts include: Retires Col. James P. Waldron, a cyber security expert who during post-election hearings before Michigan lawmakers cited incorrect reports that indicated 100% or more eligible voter turnout in some Michigan precincts; Russell James Ramsland Jr., a cybersecurity analyst and former Republican congressional candidate who produced the erroneous voter turnout report after apparently confusing Minnesota cities as locations in Michigan; and Seth Keshel, a former Army intelligence officer who has alleged numerical voting anomalies that would suggest fraud.

Full Article: ‘Cyber Ninjas’ to refute Michigan report on election errors in lingering lawsuit – mlive.com

New Hampshire: Pilot ballot counting machines move forward in certification process | Jeongyoon Han/New Hampshire Public Radio

New audit reports from the Secretary of State show that ballot machines piloted in this year’s spring municipal elections counted votes accurately, moving all of the vendors forward in the process to certify new machines in time for elections in 2024. At a Ballot Law Commission meeting Wednesday, Eric Forcier, the Secretary of State’s constitutional deputy, said all the ballot counting devices used in the March elections had minor errors — but all within what are typical margins. “I think all the vendors are excited to show New Hampshire all the great things that the machines can do if we’re willing to take her along,” he said. Four vendors are vying to gain certification from the Commission, which approves voting machines for elections in New Hampshire. The state wants to replace the current machines produced by AccuVote. Brad Cook, the chair of the Commission, said he hopes the group will select two machines at most. From there, municipalities would be able to decide which machines to purchase and use for their local races. Milford, Ashland, Winchester and Londonderry piloted ballot machines produced by three different companies: Election Systems & Software (ES&S), Clear Ballot and Dominion Voting Systems. The machines will continue to be piloted in future elections. May elections in Moultonborough and Hanover will test VotingWorks and ES&S machines, respectively.

Full Article: Pilot ballot counting machines move forward in NH certification process | New Hampshire Public Radio