Election Security Measures In Franklin County

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – Franklin County is assuring voters it takes voting and election security very seriously. The county has added a new video to its Voter & Election Information webpage that reviews the six layers of security that are in place for the General Election:

• Physical controls
• System hardening
• User authentication
• Encryption
• Data integrity validation
• Audit logs and trails

Here are some additional details on security measures that are in place for the upcoming election in November:

Absentee & mail-in voting:

• Franklin County only sends out a ballot to those who have requested one. Voters requesting a ballot are required to submit either their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their social security number so that a secondary check may be performed with either PennDOT or the Social Security Administration prior to mailing out a ballot. If the county does not receive a match back, additional measures are taken before a ballot will be issued.
• While drop boxes are allowed under current law, Franklin County decided not to offer drop boxes due to security concerns. Instead the county offers one return site at its Voter Registration Office at 272 N. Main St., Chambersburg, where a voter can present his voted ballot to an attendant who verifies that it is completed correctly, and then instructs the voter to place it into a secured ballot box. With this practice, the county can ensure that the voter is returning his own ballot, unless for a voter with a disability, and that no ballot harvesting is occurring.

Pre-canvassing and canvassing of absentee and mail-in ballots:

• Under current law, the County Board of Elections cannot start pre-canvassing the ballots until the morning of Nov. 8. Pre-canvassing is the process necessary to get the ballots ready to be run through a central ballot scanner to be counted.  The county has a dedicated group of employees who assist with this process, which includes opening the outer declaration envelope, removing the secrecy envelope, opening the secrecy envelope and unfolding the ballot to flatten it.
• Once flattened, the ballots will be placed into a ballot bag with keyless security and stored in a secured area until ready to be counted.
• All employees assisting with election-related tasks are required to sign an oath.
• Both the Democratic and Republican parties will be permitted to assign an authorized representative to be present during both the pre-canvass and canvass to observe.
• The County Election Board, made up of the three county commissioners, will oversee the canvassing (counting) of the absentee and mail-in ballots, which will also be held on Nov. 8. 

Voting equipment:

• The county’s election equipment vendor is Election Systems & Software (ES&S), one of the largest manufacturers of voting machines in the United States. Franklin County has used ES&S for approximately 35 years and has been very satisfied with their products and service.
• The DS200, Express Votes and DS450 used in Franklin County ensure voters that they are voting on the most secure, accessible and auditable equipment available. Each piece of equipment had to pass very vigorous testing at both the federal and state level before being certified to be used in Pennsylvania elections.  
• The precinct scanner and central scanner both allow a voter to use a paper ballot to record his vote and upon scanning in the ballot, the vote is tabulated immediately and a digital image of the entire ballot is captured.
• At no time is any voting equipment connected to the internet. All results are saved to an encrypted thumb drive and hand delivered to the county to be counted.
• Voting equipment is also password protected and is sent out to the polling places with tamper-evident seals.

Election results:

• Prior to each election, a Logic & Accuracy test of every piece of election equipment is performed to ensure that the machines are programmed correctly and the ballots are counting accurately.
• The county also holds a public test the Friday before each election to demonstrate that the machines are working properly and counting accurately. 
• After each election, a 2% hand count of ballots is performed to confirm that the results from the precinct counters match the hand count.  
• The county has overseen several court-ordered recounts over the years and no hand recount has ever changed the outcome of that particular race involved in the requested recount, including one race where a candidate lost by only one vote.
• The county is also participating in a risk-limiting audit with the Pennsylvania Department of State, which is used to provide a high-level of confidence and statistical verification that the outcome of the election is accurate.
• In addition, Franklin County is participating in two mock elections, overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of State, to again ensure that election results are being uploaded correctly. Results from the stand-alone computer, not connected to the internet, are always saved to a thumb drive and taken to a different laptop to be uploaded to the state.

General election security:

• Franklin County is in constant communication with the Pennsylvania Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, the Center for Internet Security of Election Infrastructure, as well as Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).

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