Westmoreland voters opt for computers over paper ballots

The biggest winner on Election Day in Westmoreland County was the touch-screen voting machine.

County voters overwhelmingly rejected the use of optional paper ballots at the polls, as just 5% of those who cast ballots at Westmoreland’s 306 precincts used pen and paper to vote Tuesday.

“It proves me right. The reason I voted against this is that I saw it as a colossal waste of time and money,” Commissioner Ted Kopas said.

County election officials said only 3,996 of the more than 78,000 residents who voted at the polls used paper ballots. In all, more than 106,000 ballots were cast in Westmoreland County, including more than 27,000 submitted by mail.

Republican Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew had approved the paper ballot plan in September. Voters had the option to use the existing touch-screen machines, which print out a paper ballot to be scanned, or to physically fill in dots on a separate paper ballot using a pen.

The move, the Republicans said, brought Westmoreland County into conformity with neighboring Allegheny and Fayette counties, which utilize paper ballots at the polls. The county spent more than $7 million in 2019 to purchase more than 900 touch-screen computers for voting, a system that was implemented the following year.

Over the last half-decade, fueled by unfounded reports questioning the accuracy of the voting machines, commissioners were lobbied to convert the county to paper ballots. A petition with a purported 5,000 signatures asking for the switch was submitted to officials this summer.

Commissioners allocated $40,000 to implement the option this fall. Election Bureau Director Scott Ross said the county printed 78,500 paper ballots and delivered them to precincts at a cost of $16,877. Additional expenses for transport equipment, clipboards and privacy screens brought the total implementation cost to nearly $31,000, Ross said.

As a result, the county ended up paying $7.71 for every paper ballot cast Tuesday.

Kertes and Chew defended the expense, saying they expect to continue offering the option in future elections.

“We really didn’t expect there to be a higher number,” Kertes said. “I anticipated that because it was the first time and it would be lower. It’s important for voters to have an option.”

The Republicans viewed the initial use of paper ballots as a pilot program and a tutorial for voters should the county eventually transition away from touch-screen machines. Chew noted that the machines purchased in 2019 could soon require replacement or lose state certification.

“It can’t be too many more years that the current machines can be used in Westmoreland County,” Chew said. “At that point, I would never ask voters to buy new machines.”

They said use of paper ballots in Westmoreland County will continue.

“Our premise with this is to be proactive,” Kertes said.