Securiosa: Timeline of Events in Northampton County, PA on November 7, 2023

Election Day, November 7, 2023

7:00 AM - The polls opened and the election day began.

7:15 AM - (according to the County) Two precincts (out of 156) reported that their EVXLs were printing ballots that sometimes did not match the selections the voters had made on the touchscreens. The first independent report I'm aware of was from 7:35 AM.

Voters and poll workers began sharing reports of what they were seeing. It is difficult to verify these reports or to know how many voters were negatively affected.

Some voters complained that the ballot card did not match the touchscreen, others claimed that it did.
Some poll workers say they were unaware of any issue until the county notified everyone after 8:30 AM.
Some voters reported being asked to come back later.
There was confusion about whether the problem was with the touchscreen, the printed text, or the barcodes, or some combination.
There was a report that some poll workers advised voters to select the opposite of their vote choices on the EVXL's touchscreen so that the printed paper ballot would be correct.
Some voters told poll workers the experience "perpetuates the notion that elections are rigged."
One voter asked for an emergency paper ballot, saying "she wasn't going to give anybody a chance to skew her vote using an electronic algorithm."

8:31 AM - The County sent a text message to all precincts:

There is an issue with the statewide judicial retention races being recorded on the paper ballot. Do not use machines, use emergency ballots, and then provisional ballots until futher notice

After this text, some poll workers expressed concern that they were not given instructions on how to properly secure the emergency paper ballots once cast. (The EVXL does not have a secure bin for unscanned ballots like many tabulators do.) Others were confused about how provisional ballots, which usually have extra paperwork that identifies the voter, should be used as emergency paper ballots.

In many precincts, emergency paper ballots and provisional ballots were either out or running low. Some reports said precincts started the day with 20 emergency ballots. Two precincts claimed they were not given any. Each precinct likely had been provided 20-30 provisional ballots too. Whatever the precise numbers were, there were not many paper ballots on hand so it is not surprising the supply ran out quickly. Some precincts acted on their own to make photocopies of a blank paper ballot and gave those out to voters.

9:13 AM - The County sent a text message to all precincts:

Return to using machines. Inform voters that their votes for Superior Court retention question will show up in reverse but will be counted correctly.

10:00 AM - The County went to the Court of Common Pleas for a hearing on the issue. In a written brief, the County described the issue and asked the Court to order poll workers to warn voters about the issue and to extend voting by one hour. (The County's brief is included with the Court order linked below.)

The County also stated their intention was to swap the vote totals at the end. However, the County did not ask the Court to authorize that plan.

9. Since the issue is consistent and limited to candidate for retention for Judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, the Election Division of the County of Northampton will assign votes for retention to the Pennsylvania Superior Court recorded on the voting machines to the other candidate to reflect the intent of the voter.

10:59 AM - In an order, written by Judge Kassis, the Court directed the County to instruct poll workers to warn voters about the issue. The order notes that the request to extend voting hours was withdrawn. It is silent about the County's plan to swap the votes totals at the end.

Ironically, Judge Kassis was a candidate in 2019 who showed 0 votes but ultimately won his contest.

11:14 AM - The County sent a text message to all precincts:

Judge Abraham P. Kassis has ordered that you are to instruct voters before the voter enters the voting booth that there is an issue with the recording of their vote for the candidates for retention to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, that the paper receipt will record their selection for retention to the Pennsylvania Superior Court one candidate to the other candidate.

At least one poll worker found this language confusing, especially the phrase "one candidate to the other candidate". Some poll workers reported that the new instructions created a long line of voters. In one precinct, to reduce the length of the line, poll workers asked voters if they intended to vote on the judge retention contests. Voters who did not were encouraged to use the EVXL. Voters who did were given the option to vote on the EVXL or an emergency paper ballot, and all of those voters chose the emergency paper ballot.

1:00 PM - The County issued a press release about the issue.

4:00 PM - The County held a press conference with a representative of ES&S, which is on YouTube.

3:00-4:00 PM - The Northampton County Republican Party took their concerns about the election to Court. The court docket does not include their requests. Reportedly, they asked the Court to extend voting by one hour and to impound the EVXLs after the election for an inspection before certification. The Court did not.

4:09 PM - A second order, written by Judge Murray, directed the County to text all precincts with different instructions, which the County did soon after.

If any problem occurs, the voter will immediately be offered an emergency paper ballot at the site and any electronic vote shall be canceled.

Some poll workers said they were frustrated by the shifting instructions. The difference may not be immediately obvious, but Judge Murray was ordering poll workers to spoil ballots where the text was noticeably wrong, rather than casting them and letting them go into the ballot box. The prior court order told poll workers to inform voters but to have them cast noticeably wrong ballots anyway.

6:29 PM - A third order, written by Judge Koury, directed the County to text all precincts with a new message, which the County did soon after.

Per Order of Judge Koury, you are required to say the following to every voter under penalty of contempt: 'For the retention election for the court of common pleas, you should check your paper ballot to make sure it matches your vote on the machine. If it does not, then ask for help.' Follow the prior instructions about providing a paper ballot they need help with the court of common pleas.

This order is not clear. It's primary purpose seems to be to induce poll workers "under penalty of contempt" to read instructions to voters. However, it contains an error. The issues were in the Superior Court contest, not the Court of Common Pleas contest. Some poll workers read the instructions exactly—with the error included—because they did not want to risk "penalty of contempt". It is also unclear if Judge Koury wants poll workers to return to the Judge Kassis instructions (cast flawed ballots anyways) or to continue using the Judge Murray instructions (spoil flawed ballots).

8:00 PM - The polls closed. Each EVXL prints out a results tape, a long strip of paper with the results of each contest listed. Poll workers are required to sign at the bottom of the results tapes to certify them. Many were uncomfortable signing it under such unclear circumstances, and several chose to mark the tapes to indicate that they were declining to certify.

November 9 - The County announced in a press release: "Approximately 235 Provisional Ballots and 2,160 Emergency Ballots were cast on Tuesday, November 7th."

November 14 - The unofficial election results were posted. They show 47,015 ballots were cast on election day.