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Incidents of ‘vote flipping' reported in western Pennsylvania; lawsuit possible

PENNSYLVANIA — Officials are investigating complaints of “vote flipping” at polls in western Pennsylvania, including Butler County, and legal action could be taken.

Butler County GOP chairman Ed Natali said the state GOP notified him of a possible lawsuit because of the voting issues in Butler County and across the state.

Problems were reported at a precinct in Clinton Township by voters including Dr. Bobbie Lee Hawranko.

“The first thing is, ‘Who do you want for president?’ And I picked Trump, and it defaulted to Hillary and it defaulted to a blank screen,” Hawranko said.

A poll worker assisted Hawranko in correctly casting her ballot for Donald Trump.

The director of the Butler County Bureau of Elections told Channel 11 News that voting machines in Clinton Township were recalibrated because of the voting issues, many of which happened when people tried to vote a straight-party ticket.

“Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, you want to be heard. And to think that a machine could change all of that is not something that I want to see for my kids,” Shane Wolf, of Clinton Township, said.

Meanwhile, in Allegheny County, voting issues have been reported in a handful of areas, according to spokeswoman Amie Downs, who released the following statement:

“We have received numerous reports of “vote switching,” most through members of the media or on social media. In each case where we have received reports from a voting district, we are sending leads out to those polling places to verify that the machines are working correctly. In each of those cases, there has been no evidence that the machines are working incorrectly. This includes reports in Robinson, West Deer, Hampton and Sewickley Hills.
 
“In every election, there are machines that need to be recalibrated following transport. So far today, we have reset three machines - one each in Upper St. Clair, Monroeville and West Mifflin. This is in line with what we see each election.”

Target 11’s Rick Earle learned from voters that, as in Butler County, some of the reported issues arose when people tried to vote a straight party.

At the West Deer Township Volunteer Fire Company No.3 in Gibsonia, voters said that because of the reported machine problems, poll workers told them to vote for the individual races as opposed to a straight-party ticket.

Police are on site in Butler polling locations. Voters told to NOT vote straight ticket as it is switching to Dem

Posted by Tom Macick on Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Beware! Reports of votes flipping from Trump to Hillary in Clinton Twp and Butler already today. Poll people could not fix it and voters were given paper ballots. Pay attention!

Posted by Kathy Wright on Tuesday, November 8, 2016

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