In an unexpected turn of events during the 2023 election, a flaw in the voting machines used in Northampton County, Pennsylvania has forced multiple polling places to resort to provisional ballots. The programming error in the ES&S ExpressVote XL machines, which caused votes to flip, was discovered in the early hours after voting precincts opened.

The specific issue occurred when voters split their votes on retention questions for Superior Court judges Jack Panella and Victor P. Stabile. Due to the error, if a voter cast a "Yes" vote for one incumbent but a "No" vote for the other, the votes came out flipped. Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure expressed his frustration at the mistake, emphasizing that all votes will still be counted.

McClure criticized the election officials and ES&S, stating, "I'm livid at the election folks and ES&S." He acknowledged that the error was relatively minor but lamented that it had not been caught during pre-election testing.

Upon discovering the issue, poll workers across the county promptly pulled the flawed machines offline and resorted to using provisional ballots. County officials also alerted all locations through text messages to keep workers informed.

While County Judge Abe Kassis ruled that the county could continue using the machines, McClure shared that in instances where the error would appear for the retention question, the results would be corrected during the post-election canvass. This decision followed the recommendation of the Pennsylvania Department of State. However, the Northampton County Republican Committee, led by Glenn Geissinger, intends to appeal the ruling, objecting to the county's interpretation of handling flipped votes.

Reports of voting machine issues emerged from various locations, including Allen Township, Easton, Lehigh Township, Northampton, and Williams Township. Voters at Bethany Wesleyan Church, College Hill Presbyterian Church, and Allen Township Fire Company all had to rely on paper ballots due to the malfunctioning machines.

As frustrations grew, voters expressed their disappointment in the electoral system. Sherri Hahn, who had to use a provisional ballot, exclaimed, "It's a joke. We don't even have faith in the electoral system, then this happens?" Another voter, who quickly left after voting at the firehouse, remarked, "I don't think I've used a paper ballot since Nixon!"

Later in the morning, some voting machines that were previously down were brought back online, illustrating the ongoing efforts to address the issue. Despite these challenges, election officials reported steady voter turnout, with Palmer Middle 1 and Palmer Middle 2 recording 60 and 63 votes respectively.

Notably, this is not the first time Northampton County has encountered problems with the ES&S voting machines. During the 2019 municipal general election, it was discovered that the oversized touchscreens were not properly calibrated, causing difficulties in selecting the desired candidate. And in a separate incident, electronic votes for a county judge candidate were not being saved, although the election was salvaged thanks to the accurate print receipts.

County Executive McClure, despite the recent glitches, expressed that he is not yet looking to replace the machines. He acknowledges that hiccups are not uncommon on Election Day and believes that the problem should have been caught during pre-election logic and accuracy testing.

In the Northampton County system, the county prepares the ballot and sends it to ES&S for programming. The investigation into this voting machine flaw will shed further light on the importance of thorough testing and accountability in ensuring accurate and reliable elections.

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