Here's how Franklin County, Pa., keeps elections secure

As the Nov. 8 midterm elections approach, Franklin County is being proactive in telling voters about the steps it takes to make sure the local election is secure.

The county elections office recently published a news release listing the many security measures taken to ensure votes are reported accurately each election.

Election integrity has been a fraught topic across the U.S. Despite dozens of state and federal judges dismissing lawsuits from Former President Donald Trump and his allies challenging the outcome of the 2020 election, the former president and many of his supporters continue to promote false claims of election fraud. Doug Mastriano, a state senator from Franklin County who is the Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate, has been a key figure in pushing those claims.

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Donald Trump won nearly 72% of votes in the presidential race in Franklin County in 2020, more than in 2016. That squares with the county's political divide, as registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 2 to 1.

With all that in the background, Jean Byers, the deputy clerk who oversees the county's elections, said the county just wanted people to know the measures in place to keep local elections secure.

"We did a very similar press release during the 2020 Presidential Election and so we decided to run it again since we have more people voting and engaged in the election process since it is the midterms," she wrote in an email to the Public Opinion.

None of the security measures were put in place in response to reactions to the outcome of the 2020 election.

"We just continued with the measures we have had in place ever since we purchased the new voting equipment in 2019 and Act 77 pertaining to mail-in ballots was implemented," Byers said.

More:Four Republican PA lawmakers used mail-in ballots after signing a pledge against them

Below are some of the key security measures shared by Franklin County's elections office.

Does Franklin County use drop boxes?

Due to "security concerns," Franklin County has never used drop boxes, Byers confirmed, even as many counties implemented them when mail-in voting took off amid the pandemic in 2020 and still use them.

The county does, however, allow voters to drop off their ballots at the Voter Registration office in the Administration Building on North Second Street, where an attendant will check that all required steps have been completed.

“With this practice we can ensure that the voter is returning their own ballot, unless for a voter with a disability, and that no ballot harvesting is occurring,” according to the release.

More:Unfounded voter fraud claims have brought attempts toward stricter voting laws in Pennsylvania

How does Franklin County prepare mail-in ballots for counting?

The county begins pre-canvassing mail-in and absentee ballots the morning after an election, as is the law. Pre-canvassing entails voted ballots being removed from their outer declaration envelope and the inner secrecy envelope, then being opened and flattened so they are ready to be run through the central election scanner to be counted.

Until they can be run through the machine and counted, flattened ballots are kept in a bag with keyless security that is stored in a secure area.

The Republican and Democratic parties may assign a representative to observe the pre-canvassing, as well as the counting of all ballots. The county commissioners, in their capacity as the election board, also watch the counting.

What voting equipment does Franklin County use?

Franklin County uses the same election equipment vendor it has used for 35 years. Election Systems and Software, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is one of the largest manufacturers of voting machines in the U.S.

The machines Franklin County uses are called the DS200, Express Votes and DS450. They passed “very vigorous testing at both the federal and state level before being certified to be used in PA elections," according to the release.

Franklin County uses paper ballots. After a person votes, they put their own ballot through the scanner, which immediately tabulates their votes and captures a digital image of the entire ballot.

Voting equipment is never connected to the internet. Precincts save their results to an encrypted thumb drive and someone hand delivers it to the county elections office to be counted.

Does the county test its election equipment?

The county conducts a “logic and accuracy” test on every piece of election equipment to make sure they are programmed correctly and that ballots are accurately counted, according to the release. A public test is held the Friday before each election. This year, that is Nov. 4.

Also, the county hand-counts 2% of ballots after each election to confirm the results match those from the precinct counters. The release goes on to say that none of the several court-ordered recounts the county has done over the years changed the outcome of a race, including one where a candidate lost by one vote.

Franklin County works with the Department of State to ensure results are accurate. A risk-limiting audit provides statistical verification that an election’s outcome is accurate.

The county also participates in two mock elections to ensure results are uploaded correctly to the Department of State: “Results from our 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," the release states.

This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: Franklin County, Pa., shares election security measures