For some Lehigh County residents, the new paper ballot system was like taking old Scantron tests in their high school days. Not only were they filling in bubbles to select their choices, they worried someone might sneak a peek at their answers.
Next year, though, Lehigh County will take extra measures to protect people’s privacy when they vote and as they wait for their ballots to be scanned, said Tim Benyo, chief clerk of elections. Curtains from old voting machines will be repurposed and staff will be trained to ensure secret ballots remain just that — secret.
“I don’t think people were ready for the change, and what they expected was different from what they got,” Benyo said Wednesday afternoon.
For the first time in nearly a century, Lehigh County voters directly marked paper ballots to cast their votes Tuesday. Polling places were supplied with a quad, a table divided into four sections by short walls. Voters could use the tables, fill out their ballots and then walk to a machine that scanned and stored their ballot. The digital scan allowed the county to quickly tally votes, and the paper ballots allow the county to audit the results as needed.
But residents said they were concerned about the secrecy of their ballots, a basic tenet of U.S. democracy. Secret ballots are intended to keep voters from being bullied or intimidated into supporting specific candidates, and to discourage officials from trying to buy votes, because they have no way to verify how people vote.
In interviews and emails, county voters said anyone could have glanced over their shoulder as they voted or waited in line for the scanner. Voters said this could be a significant problem in next year’s hotly contested election, when President Donald Trump is up for reelection.
Wayne Achey said there was little privacy when he voted around 7:30 a.m. in West Bethlehem. While there were few people at the polls at that hour, anyone at the table or walking behind him could have read his ballot, he said.
“There better be change. I strongly believe next year there will be people who want to vote for a candidate in complete privacy and that will be impossible,” Achey said. “They will be intimidated from voting for the candidate they want to support.”
Tina Talago of Lynn Township said she was generally satisfied with the paper ballot system but was also concerned about the lack of privacy.
“It felt very uncomfortable,” she said. “I think they can put more protections in place.”
Dwight Griffin, a South Whitehall Township resident, said he preferred the old machines. They were easier to read and interact with, and they did more to protect voters’ privacy, he said.
“I don’t think [anyone looked at my ballot], but I could imagine it happening in the presidential election,” he said.
Benyo said complaints worked their way back to his office, and the county is already planning ways to protect the secrecy of the ballot.
Some of the complaints may have been exacerbated by voters who did not want to take the time to use the quad, and filled out their ballot along a wall or a free chair, he said.
“It’s a lesson learned. People may not want to wait,” he said.
Benyo said he already anticipated he would need privacy curtains next year for the high turnout presidential election, but had hoped those steps would not be necessary for the local election, which saw about 25%
turnout.
Many voters were unaware that they could have requested a manila folder when they signed in to vote. After filling out their ballot, voters could have put the paper in the folder, keeping it away from prying eyes. Staff should have done more to make voters aware of the option, Benyo said.
“It’s a learning curve for the poll workers, too. There’s definitely more need for additional training,” he said.
Overall, Benyo said, the first run of the paper ballots was a success. Poll workers struggled under the new system early in the day but complaints eased as people became more accustomed to the new system, he said. There were no widespread complaints of voter irregularities, which have plagued the early results in Northampton County.
Morning Call reporter Tom Shortell can be reached at 610-820-6168 or tshortell@mcall.com.
YOUR CALL
After issues cropped up in Tuesday’s election, some readers wanted to know about the lack of privacy in the new voting process in Lehigh County. We worked to answer those questions in this story.
Ask us other questions about the things in the Lehigh Valley you want us to report on through our new reader-powered project, “Your Call,” at themorningcall.com/yourcall.
