Westmoreland voting machine demos canceled

Public demonstrations of Westmoreland County’s new voting equipment are on hold, officials said Thursday.

The elections bureau scheduled a number of events throughout the county before the April 28 primary to allow voters a chance to test drive the machines purchased last year. Officials said the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and the recommendation against public gatherings led to the indefinite suspensions of the events.

Demonstrations were scheduled for May 21 in Latrobe, March 28 in Murrysville and April 4 in New Stanton.

“Once the threat to public safety is lifted, they may be rescheduled,” Elections Bureau Director Beth Lechman said.

The new equipment was used for the first time during this week’s special election for a vacant state House seat.

Turnout for the election neared 21% and voters mostly praised the new equipment.

The $7.1 million system allows voters to confirm their selections on a paper ballot printed via touch-screen computer used to register selections. Voters then manually insert their completed ballots into a digital scanner that records the votes and stores ballots. Elections officials have the ability to compare the digitally recorded votes to the paper ballots.

A video tutorial on the new voting systems, as well as information, can be found at VotesPA.com, a website of the Pennsylvania Department of State.