Pennsylvania Voting Machines Changing Votes Sparks Outrage

An error with voting machines in Pennsylvania, causing votes to change amid an output print error, is sparking outrage online Tuesday.

Officials with the Northampton County Elections Office released a statement Tuesday saying that it appears when voters select "Yes" or "No" for one of the candidates for Pennsylvania Superior Court, the vote is recorded for the other candidate.

The issue is limited to the retention of Pennsylvania Superior Court, affecting Judge Jack Panella and Judge Victor P. Stabile, county officials said.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure said voters first noticed the error on the printed voting records produced by the touchscreen machines.

In the release on Tuesday, officials said that the Elections Division of the County of Northampton "notified all poll workers by text message that they 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."

In response to news of the error, Congressman Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican, took to X, formerly Twitter, saying, "This is why Americans have a growing distrust of the system. It baffles me how Democrats consistently screw up the execution of elections to the peril and misfortune of the voter. Make Elections Safe and Secure AGAIN!!!"

Rogan O'Handley, a pro-Trump conservative commentator, said on X, "BREAKING: Voting machines in Pennsylvania shut down after getting caught flipping votes Democrats run that state and will cheat in *any* way possible ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - Get rid of these damn rigged machines!!"

Conservative commentator Laura Loomer also responded on X, saying, "BREAKING: Voting machines in Pennsylvania flipped votes for judges in a tabulation error! Proof the machines flip votes. Election machines cannot be trusted!"

Benny Johnson, conservative commentator, also reacted to the news on X, saying, "Voting machines in Pennsylvania are now being shut down after reports of machines 'flipping votes.' And this is why Americans have lost all faith in our electoral process. Add this to the list of election fraud cases we've recently learned about:

-Ballot stuffing schemes in Connecticut

-Voter fraud strategies in New Jersey

-Ballot harvesting operations in Michigan

-Illegal ballot drops in Georgia

When will America acknowledge that our election system has been compromised?"

Newsweek cannot independently confirm Johnson's claims of election fraud.

Northampton County obtained a court order Tuesday, according to AP, after the issue with the voting machines was discovered. The court order allowed the machines to continue to be used. When the votes are tabulated, they will be corrected, McClure said, so "Panella's votes will be returned to Panella, and Stabile's will be returned to Stabile."

In a news conference on Tuesday, a representative for Election Systems & Software, the election machine manufacturer, said an error was caused by an employee of ES&S and they "regret the situation" and are committed to "fair, accurate results."

Previous voting machine issues in 2019 were also mentioned in the news conference on Tuesday. According to AP, Northampton County had problems with the company's ExpressVoteXL touchscreen system when an incorrectly formatted ballot in a judicial race forced election workers to count paper ballots.

When reached by Newsweek for comment Tuesday, Northampton County Deputy Director of Administration Brittney Waylen referred Newsweek to the news conference.