The women were at the Main Street Center to talk about voting issues throughout Pennsylvania and the nation.

The main focus of the meeting was for Kuznik and Vellero to discuss problems with the voting machines now in use in a lot of Pennsylvania precincts, including the Diebold AccuVote TSX machines, purchased by the county in early 2006 with about $500,000 of federal Help America Vote Act money, and now in use in all precincts in Clarion County .

Kuznik speaks

Kuznik noted that with the passage of HAVA the government “dangled a pot of money in front of every county,” as a movement toward the purchase of voting machines.

Seventeen of Pennsylvania ’s 67 counties use voter marked ballots that are then read and recorded by a machine that optically scans the ballots.

Nationally, 35 states still use some form of paper ballot system and roughly 52 percent of all U.S. voters vote on optical scan systems.

Kuznik said the problem is the touch-screen voting machines, like those used in the county, are dependent on software, meaning that the votes recorded on the machine cannot be counted without the necessary software.

This does not allow for accurate audits or recounts for the votes tallied on the machines, Kuznik stated.

Kuznik said she had become concerned with the voting system after the November 2004 presidential election between George W. Bush and John Kerry.

Kuznik said she had been a poll worker in Westmoreland County and had gone home from the polls around midnight on the night of the election.

While watching poll results come in over the Internet, Kuznik saw election results in Ohio had flipped.

“It didn’t make sense,” Kuznik commented. “I knew something was wrong in Ohio .”

The Green Party called for, and was granted a recount in Ohio .

Kuznik volunteered to help with the recount in the state, and was chosen to act as a regional coordinator.

“In one county, all the ballots had been sorted by who was voted for before the official seal on the ballot box was broken and the votes were counted,” Kuznik said, pointing to one of the irregularities reported in Ohio .

“Then I started looking into Pennsylvania ’s voting system,” Kuznik said. “I realized we need a state organization for ballot access, registration, and to make sure everyone can vote and that their votes are counted accurately.”

So, she formed VotePA, which now has members in every region in Pennsylvania . The group’s website is www.votepa.us.

Kuznik said she felt the 2008 presidential election reflected the will of the people and had not been miscounted, although she noted Northumberland County ’s Diebold TSX machines had been impounded after the election because the machines did not display a list of candidates when a voter voted a straight party ticket.

“Diebold has been contacted to examine the machines,” Kuznik commented. “That’s like having the fox watch the hen house.”

She said Pike County had experienced similar problems in the recent election.

Kuznik also noted some security issues she has with the touch-screen voting machines, including the key used to gain access to the TSX machines’ printer door and memory cartridge door. Kuznik noted that a single key, which she likened to the key to a hotel mini-bar, works on all the machines, citing this as a major security risk.

Vellero weighs in

Mary Vellero took the floor next. She represents the group Concerned Voters of Centre County.

Vellero’s first experience with touch-screen voting machines had been a negative one.

While working at the polls in a primary election in Centre County , Vellero witnessed a machine display a warning sign as the election judge was closing the machine when the polls closed. The warning said the write-in votes on the machine may not be counted.

Vellero traveled with the machine to the county courthouse where the votes were to be tabulated and was told she could not go in the back room where the machine would be accessed.

Vellero threatened to talk to the press about the machine’s problem and was granted access to the back room. Once there, she was told the write-ins had been counted.

“There is no transparent in anyway,” Vellero commented. “A piece of paper came out of a printer that said 12 write-ins had been recorded. It really soured me on touch screen votes.

“We can’t settle for a system we can’t check, no matter what party you are. It’s a wonderful feeling to know we can check it.”

Vellero went on to say that change will not likely come from the top down, and that people must demand a better voting system.

“I have faith we can turn it around,” she commented. “We have to tell people we can’t trust the machine.”

County problems

According to Jane Schautz, chair of the local League’s voting integrity project, there were not as many problems in the most recent county election as compared to previous ones.

She told the Clarion News there was one reported instance of a gentleman casting a vote for one candidate and it being given to the wrong candidate. When the man brought the problem to the attention of the election judge he was told it happens all the time.

Schautz pointed out if such a malfunction is reported, the judge of the election is obligated to take that machine out of service. This was not done, Schautz stated.

Schautz said the problem had been reported to Ronn Kuzmovich, county director of elections, who had not heard about it previously.

She said she is aware of at least a dozen incidences of voting problems in the past in the county and is seeking further reports.

Those who wish to report their experiences with voting problems are encouraged to contact Schautz by phone at 744-8137 or by email at jschautz@usachoice.net.

“If a vote isn’t counted, it’s a serious problem,” Schautz commented.

Kuzmovich responds

Kuzmovich was also on hand to hear what the speakers had to say, and responded to the league in a letter dated Nov. 19.

Kuzmovich stated he appreciated the opportunity to attend the meeting, but “did not respond to their (Kuznik and Vellero) remarks that evening because (he) felt it was not scheduled as a debate, but an informative session.

“Based on my written notes and a personal recording of much of the evening’s presentation I think my comments are as complete and pertinent as possible,” he wrote.

Kuzmovich noted that “ Pennsylvania law requires a manual audit of a precinct that represents 2 percent of the vote cast at every election. This audit is always held at the public return board meeting on the Friday following the election. No results are accepted until the audit has been completed.”

Kuzmovich told the Clarion News this election, Ashland Township ’s four voting machines had been used for the audit.

In response to Kuznik’s comments on machine problems in Northumberland County , Kuzmovich stated that he had researched the issue and found that there had been a problem.

“It appears that it was a programming issue,” Kuzmovich stated. “The programming was done in-house, and evidently the proper testing was not completed prior to the election. If this is indeed the case, it is the responsibility of the election director.

“The testing is mandatory and would have probably brought the problem to light prior to the deployment of the voting equipment.

“ Pike County was also mentioned as having experienced this same problem, but that doesn’t appear to be true as no such problems have been reported by Pike County .

“We are not sure where this rumor originated and I have contacted both Premier (Diebold) and Pike County officials.”

Kuzmovich then turned to the issue of a single key working on all machines.

“The issue of a single key fitting all machines is true. We address this by using tamper proof seals on all access doors and also check and recheck the numbers when the machines go out and recheck when they are returned the evening of the election.

“There doesn’t appear to be a practical way of providing different keys for each of the 135 machines in use -- anyone intending to really tamper with the machine would have to know the security codes, passwords and access numbers in order to prepare an acceptable ‘corrupt’ memory card.

“Even if someone did manage to insert a “corrupt” memory card, we would notice the tamper seal number change during the machine return, and would not upload any data from that voting unit.”

Kuzmovich noted in the letter the county had not received enough information to confirm that vote switching had occurred in the county.

As far as software-independence is concerned, Kuzmovich stated, “good software put men on the moon and brought them back. I feel sure we can handle elections just as well.”

Kuzmovich concluded, “ Clarion County is in concurrence with the www.votepa.us web site on their ending statement. ‘No eligible Pennsylvanian must ever be denied his or her fair opportunity to register to vote and cast a ballot, and likewise every Pennsylvania voter deserves to have full confidence that his or her ballot will be counted accurately as cast.’”