Per an exclusive article from LehighValleyNews.com which can be read in its entirety by clicking here, "Pa. elections chief: Fixes coming to avoid errors that plagued Northampton Co."
According to the article, "Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said his department is stepping up training and assistance for county election officials - measures that should help Northampton County as it looks to learn and improve upon its flawed 2023 general election."
LehighValleyNews sat down with Schmidt for an exclusive interview, in which he explained most of the issues were related to human error. "It wasn't a flaw or a problem or a glitch with the voting system. What we're really dealing with is something in the area of human error. That doesn't minimize the error at all. It just changed your approach to solving the problems and mitigating against them occurring in the future."
The response from Schmidt seems to be a direct response to a press release from PA State Rep. Milou Mackenzie (R), who on December 8, 2023, released a statement stating, in part, that "As a state representative and longtime voter in Northampton County, I was deeply concerned to learn about the failures experienced by fellow voters during the municipal elections on Nov. 7."
Additionally, according to LehighValleyNews, "County Registrar Christopher Cominni has vowed to make multiple improvements, including stepping up the county's L&A (logic & accuracy) testing. He has also said the county will send more emergency ballots to each polling place and require that all poll workers attend training sessions each year."
Mackenzie continues, "It is of the utmost importance to note that this is the second time that Northampton County has encountered issues with the machines that they utilize, ES&S ExpressVote XL, which were first purchased by the county ahead of the municipal elections in 2019."
Saucon Voice initially covered the voting problems in Northampton County in this article. Readers were made aware in that article that the County has been plagued with voting issues and concerns dating back to the 2020 election. County Executive Lamont McClure has made excuses and promised reform more than once, while still remaining committed to the purchase of the ExpressVoteXL machines. To date, minimal accountability has been taken by McClure or other county administrators, aside from the resignation of Northampton County Director of Administration Charles Dertinger, who did so shortly after the election. Readers can learn more about that resignation from this WFMZ article.
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