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<p>Statistics released Monday indicate at least 40 Pennsylvania counties are planning to use new paper-trail voting systems by this year&#8217;s May primary or November general election, but Luzerne County is not among them.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri said Monday he is optimistic the administration will ask county council to select a system by September, which would not allow ample preparation before the November election. That means the new system would have to be used for the first time in the April 2020 presidential primary, when turnout is expected to be significantly higher.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;d love to have a system implemented by this fall, but with the tight turnaround, the earliest we can have it done is April 2020,&#8221; Pedri said.</p><p>A draft of the document used to solicit responses from voting system suppliers &#8212; known as a request-for-proposals, or RFP &#8212; should be presented to county council at its April 9 meeting, Pedri said.</p><p>Council Chairman Tim McGinley had asked the administration to publicly brief council members on the proposed RFP before it is advertised to vendors in case they have suggestions or recommendations. Pedri said he wants to quickly release the request after council&#8217;s review because the resulting vendor responses also must be evaluated and ranked by a recommending committee before council makes its final selection.</p><p>The Pennsylvania Department of State told counties last April they have until the end of 2019 to select new voting systems with paper records that can be both verified by voters before they cast their ballots and checked in post-election audits. The new systems must be in use by the April 2020 primary, although this year&#8217;s November general was preferred, the state had said.</p><p>The department issued a release Monday saying counties have been making &#8220;great progress&#8221; complying.</p><p>Nineteen of the state&#8217;s 67 counties, or 28 percent, already have taken official action toward acquiring new voting systems through votes to buy/lease systems or approve funding, the release said.</p><p>These counties, according to the state: Beaver, Berks, Bradford, Butler, Centre, Clinton, Crawford, Greene, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Mercer, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Pike, Susquehanna, Venango and Westmoreland.</p><p>Some other state updates:</p><p>&#8226; Almost 80 percent of counties report they have received, selected or are in the process of selecting new voting systems.</p><p>&#8226; Eight to 10 counties expect to use their new voting systems in the upcoming May primary.</p><p>&#8226; Thirty-two counties plan to implement the new systems in the November 2019 general.</p><p>&#8226; About 11 counties foresee deploying their systems in the April 2020 primary.</p><p>In the release, acting Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said her agency is &#8220;very pleased&#8221; that more than a quarter of counties have taken steps to acquire new systems and more than three-quarters have plans to implement new systems.</p><p>&#8220;County officials continue to demonstrate how committed they are to acquiring voting systems that best meet their voters&#8217; needs and provide the most secure, auditable and accessible voting systems to all Pennsylvanians,&#8221; Boockvar said.</p><p>But Luzerne County Council members have complained about a lack of funding for the mandate.</p><p>The county received a pledge of $327,000 in federal funding toward the purchase of a system, which is estimated to cost $4 million.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re not in a position like some of these other counties that can just write a check,&#8221; Pedri said.</p><p>Governor Tom Wolf has proposed a minimum of $15 million in state funding each year for the next five years &#8212; a combined total of at least $75 million &#8212; to assist counties in acquiring the new systems. Pedri said it&#8217;s still unclear whether legislators will approve this full allocation and what, if anything, Luzerne County would receive.</p><p>The Department of State also will continue to pursue more federal assistance and other funding sources to help counties pay for their new systems, Monday&#8217;s release said, noting a statewide purchasing contract can be used by counties to &#8220;negotiate their best deal.&#8221;</p><p>Pedri said he has not finalized the composition of the panel that will review the RFPs and make a recommendation to council &#8212; something else McGinley has asked the administration to present to council in advance.</p><p>The county&#8217;s five-member citizen election board will be part of the panel, Pedri said.</p><p>Election Board Vice Chairman Peter Ouellette said he and other board members view making a recommendation as part of their responsibility.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bob Toth Sr., of Butler Township, checks out a paper-trail voting system during Luzerne County&#8217;s demonstration of options last month. County officials say a new system likely would not be in place here until the April 2020 primary. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL022819VotingMachines_2.cmyk_.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bob Toth Sr., of Butler Township, checks out a paper-trail voting system during Luzerne County&#8217;s demonstration of options last month. County officials say a new system likely would not be in place here until the April 2020 primary. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne behind many Pa. counties on voting machine upgrades