Voters in Lehigh and Northampton counties had strong opinions about new voting machines and procedures that started Tuesday.
In Lehigh County, voters filled out paper ballots and then inserted them into a machine that scanned and tabulated the votes. In Northampton County, people used new machines that created a stored paper record of their votes.
Here are reader reactions. The first two are portions of letters to the editor; the others are comments on The Morning Call’s Facebook account.
‘Impossible to cast a private ballot’
“The latest update to the voting process in Pennsylvania is a complete travesty. They give you a piece of paper, fill in some bubbles with absolutely no privacy, then shove your supposed ballot into some machine.”
— Ben Johnson, Fountain Hill
“What has happened to casting a private ballot? In South Whitehall Township, we used paper ballots and sat at an open table with friends and neighbors sitting beside and across from us. Additionally with other voters and election workers walking behind us, it was impossible to cast a private ballot.
“Another problem with this new (we can see who you’re voting for) format, is the distracting conversations occurring next to the table between voters and election workers.”
— Dwight Griffin, Allentown
“There wasn’t privacy! They had two women at the scanning machine and both craned their necks to see how I voted and were obviously disappointed I wasn’t their party.”
— Hayley Penso
“At my South Whitehall … polling place, the two poll workers assigned to feed the sheet through the scanner were openly — VERY openly — looking over the ballots to see how you voted before putting it in the scanner! Very creepy; violation of privacy of vote.”
— Kate Scuffle
“When I first voted in the 1970s, I went into a private booth that had a curtain for privacy. Today I was given a paper ballot, sat at a table with others, and filled out my ballot while talking with my neighbors — not exactly private!”
— Susan Mushock
Lines could be a ‘nightmare in 2020’
“No issues for me in Lehigh County, though I foresee a logistical nightmare with a very large turnout.”
— Michael McKeon
“It was nuts. First you stand in a line to sign into the book, then you go to the back of another line to wait and vote. This is going to be a nightmare in 2020.”
— John Young
Scanning machine broke
“We voted in Lower Macungie and our votes were taken but not scanned as the machine “broke” and they will be scanned later.”
— John Borelli
Northampton County machines: challenges and triumphs
“I voted in Northampton County. Had problems with not being able to activate some of the buttons for candidates. Especially in the lower right hand of the screen. And when I was changing a selection it pressed the wrong one. Luckily I caught all the problems and verified my choices when the paper ballot printed.”
— Angela Trilli-Braun
“I had some difficulty activating the buttons as well. It was mainly in the lower right hand corner. Once in another area I barely touched the screen and it activated the block. The screens don’t work very well and I could see how especially some senior citizens may have had difficulty.”
— Denise Booth
“Worked wonderful! Great double verification with the paper ballot. No problems with the touch screen, but I know some people can’t understand the concept of touching with the pad of your finger and not your fingernail.”
— Michael Vincent
“As with any computer program there will be glitches when first used. My only problem was no light on the side where you read your paper ballot to confirm before casting your vote. For us seniors that can be a problem. I love having the paper ballot as backup.”
— June Dougherty Arnold
“I was a little taken back by the new machine when I saw it, but then I figured it out rather quickly. It was a breeze! No problems here. The paper was easy to insert and it printed my selections and asked me to confirm before accepting.”
— Brenda Fuentes
“To me it seemed as if it took longer to vote with new machines in Northampton County, but we had no issues.”
— Colleen Stout Krcelich
“Used the machine and had no problems. Was given a blank paper, went behind the curtain, and voted. No one looked at my stuff.”
— Eric R Langer
Not a fan of paper ballot
“Didn’t like that we had to use a paper ballot that you took to a machine to be scanned. Hopefully they were counted.”
— Carol Busch
Marker bled through paper
“Let’s go ahead back 30 years to paper ballots. Ridiculous. And the marker bleeding through to the other side; who’s to say that isn’t having an impact on our selections? Bad idea.”
— Nicholas Kurek Smith
“Only complaints with the paper is that the marker bled through to the other side and I’m wondering if that will alter results.”
— Hannah Hans
https://modules.wearehearken.com/the-morning-call/embed/4411.js
