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Election officials in 18 of Pennsylvania&#8217;s 67 counties &#8212; including Luzerne &#8212; have reported accepting gifts, meals or trips from companies competing to sell voting equipment, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced Friday.His investigation into the matter was prompted in December by media coverage of Luzerne County Election Director Marisa Crispell&#8217;s participation in two 2017 Election Systems &amp; Software (ES&amp;S)-funded advisory board trips to Las Vegas and Omaha, Nebraska, where the company is based.Crispell has said her participation was cleared by county assistant solicitor Michael Butera and Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik and that she stepped down from the advisory role in fall 2017 before the county sought proposals from companies interested in supplying the poll books in January 2018.ES&amp;S, which ended up receiving the $325,000 electronic poll book contract, covered travel, lodging for two nights and meals for the trips that Crispell had valued at $2,493 in a financial interest statement she amended after the issue surfaced here in December.Several council members have said Crispell recommended switching to poll books and should have informed council of her advisory role before they voted.ES&amp;S also had supplied the county&#8217;s electronic voting machines years before Crispell was hired and is now among companies interested in providing new voting machines with a paper trail being mandated by the state.According to his live online briefing and a subsequent release, examples of gifts reported by counties included:&#8226; Expense-paid travel to destinations including Las Vegas&#8226; Tickets to a wine festival and a distillery tour&#8226; Dinners at high-end restaurants and other meals&#8226; An open bar at a conference for elections officials&#8226; Tickets to an amusement park&#8226; An assortment of treats such as chocolate-covered pretzels, snacks and coffee.Counties should require equipment vendors to come to them and submit proposals, he said, questioning what insight about voting machines could be gleaned from amusement rides and distillery tours. He also voiced skepticism about the selection of Las Vegas for a trip.The issue is not the size of the gift but instead the possibility that county officials making decisions &#8220;could have been swayed&#8221; by the perks, he said. He said he does not believe someone will &#8220;do anything illegal or corrupt&#8221; because they received a bagel, but strict bans are needed to prevent any appearance of impropriety.County officials must follow their own ethics rules and the state ethics act.The state act requires county officials to report gifts of $250 or more and lodging $600 and higher.DePasquale said he will refer all findings to the state Ethics Commission for further review. He said he has no evidence laws were violated but believes the crime is that such gifts can be accepted in the first place.He is calling for changes to strengthen Pennsylvania&#8217;s rules for accepting and reporting gifts, citing Gov. Tom Wolf&#8217;s complete ban on gifts for employees of his administration as an example. Disclosure laws for companies seeking government business also should be updated to make them similar to what is already required of lobbyists, he said.He said he is certain similar gifts are being offered by vendors throughout the country because many other states also plan to replace their voting equipment before the 2020 election. He plans to alert colleagues in other states.The Pennsylvania Department of State told counties in April 2018 they have until the end of 2019 to select new voting systems that feature a paper record, which allows for more accurate post-election audits. The new systems are to be in use no later than the 2020 primary, and preferably by this year&#8217;s general election. The statewide cost of the work could range from $125 million to $150 million, he said.&#8220;We must ensure that no one can tamper with our elections and make sure there is a trustworthy paper trail to follow, should reviews become necessary,&#8221; DePasquale said. &#8220;We need to protect the right to vote and ensure that all votes can be counted securely and accurately.&#8221;Other countiesIn addition to Crispell&#8217;s trips, DePasquale said the following counties reported these gifts from voting equipment vendors, including ES&amp;S, Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion), Electec Election Services (Electec), and Unisyn Voting Solutions (Unisyn):&#8226; Berks: Vendors paid a total $3,518.24 for travel and lodging in 2018 &#8212; $1,302.48 for the election director and $1,178.23 for a county commissioner by ES&amp;S and $1,037.53 for the same county commissioner by Unisyn.&#8226; Bucks: The items accepted were meals from Electec and ES&amp;S, a promotional folding chair from current vendor Electec and Pittsburgh incline ride fare from Dominion during a conference.&#8226; Butler: At a 2016 equipment demonstration, Dominion provided a meal and ES&amp;S provided coffee and doughnuts; Dominion provided a fast-food lunch at a May 2018 equipment demonstration; ES&amp;S provided lunch for eight county officials at a January 2019 equipment demonstration; various election equipment vendors drop off doughnuts and candy and other small items for the staff.&#8226; Cambria: Vendor-sponsored luncheons and dinners were accepted during county election conferences.&#8226; Cameron: At a 2016 conference in State College, Dominion sponsored dinner at a local restaurant, provided transportation to a wine tour of the area and paid entry to a private tour of a local distillery. At a 2017 conference in Harrisburg, ES&amp;S paid for transportation to and a meal at a high-end restaurant. At a 2018 conference in Pittsburgh, Dominion provided a meal, transportation and tour of a museum. In September 2018, ES&amp;S held an equipment demonstration and took election board members and staff to lunch at a restaurant. Dominion paid for lunch at another 2018 equipment demonstration. ES&amp;S provided boxes of chocolate-covered pretzels and sometimes provides lunch at annual conferences for those who attend its luncheon meetings.&#8226;Clearfield: ES&amp;S and Dominion provided dinners and lunches.&#8226; Clinton: ES&amp;S and Dominion brought coffee and sweet rolls to system demonstrations.&#8226; Delaware: Vendor-sponsored cocktail parties were provided during county election conferences.&#8226; Elk: Lunches were provided by ES&amp;S in April 2018 and by Dominion in May 2018.&#8226; Forest: ES&amp;S provided dinner and admission to a wine festival in September 2018.&#8226; Lycoming: Vendors occasionally provided meals or drinks at county election conferences.&#8226; Northumberland: ES&amp;S provided lunch in November 2018.&#8226; Potter: Dominion sponsored dinners at conferences held from 2013 through 2018.&#8226; Warren: At the annual election officials conference, a company associated with ES&amp;S provides a hospitality room. Vendors covered a cash bar and entertainment at a 2018 conference. Dominion and ES&amp;S have taken conference attendees to dinner one night each year since 2013. Dominion and ES&amp;S gave presentations with coffee and doughnuts. ES&amp;S has sent a representative to deliver items like chocolate-covered pretzels on two occasions. At a 2017 conference, ES&amp;S paid for some elections officials to go to an amusement park, which included entrance fee, lunch and the creation of their own candy bar.&#8226; Washington: Dominion and ES&amp;S provided lunch at voting equipment demonstrations in 2016. ES&amp;S provided lunch at a 2018 voting equipment demonstration.&#8226; Westmoreland: In 2018, Dominion and ES&amp;S sent catered lunches to the election bureau. ES&amp;S took the bureau director and deputy director to dinner in 2018, and the bureau director and her husband accepted an ES&amp;S invitation to attend a wine festival in September 2018. Dominion and ES&amp;S have also provided occasional boxes of doughnuts to the commissioners&#8217; office and the elections bureau.York: ES&amp;S bought lunch for two members of the election department in 2017 and 2018. Dominion provided bagels and coffee for a meeting in October 2018.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_AG-JCC-2-1.jpeg</photo0><caption0>State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jennifer Learn-Andesjandes@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</shirttailMeta></div>

Investigation finds officials in 18 counties accepted gifts from companies selling voting equipment