MERCER COUNTY Elections director is grilled

The committee came up with more questions than answers.
MERCER, Pa. -- An eight-member committee appointed to investigate hundreds of votes lost because of computer problems in the Nov. 2 general election quizzed the county elections director Monday.
The group asked James Bennington, director of Mercer County Board of Elections, about election procedures, machine testing and his schedule Election Day. Bennington also demonstrated operation of a voting machine for them.
Several problem areas for further investigation were identified.
Committee members asked why so few paper ballots were available and why there was no plan to deal with machine failure. Bennington said enough ballots were provided to each precinct for five percent of potential voters. County Republican Chairman the Rev. Donald Wilson, a committee member, said he believes there should be enough backup paper ballots for everybody in the precinct, regardless of the cost.
Members of the panel said they were horrified to find that although voting had come to a halt in a West
Middlesex precinct by 7:45 a.m. Election Day, Bennington was not notified until 9 a.m. In the meantime, Bennington learned of unrelated breakdowns in two other precincts and was able to solve problems at those locations. But the major problems affecting all 12 precincts in the 4th Congressional District went unexamined for hours.
Phone troubles
Bennington said phone communications were difficult Election Day. He explained that though two phone lines were dedicated to communication between precincts and the county elections office, they were jammed Election Day by voters with last-minute questions who obtained the numbers from poll workers.
The committee also asked why, even if the 4th Congressional District voting machines contained a coding error by Bennington, the extensive pre-election testing failed to discover it.
Expertise untapped
They also said they were surprised to learn that computer experts who manage the courthouse computer system do not work with Bennington on the computerized voting machines and have no familiarity with them.
Whether Bennington's time is being utilized effectively was also questioned. Members wanted to know why Bennington spent so many hours in the three days preceding the election doing clerical work when he was also in charge of programming computers. Bennington told them he did the copying of paper ballots, a task which took three days.
Dr. Michael Coulter, associate professor of political science and humanities at Grove City College, was elected chairman of the committee Monday. Peggy Ruggles, of the Mercer County League of Women Voters, who is also a precinct poll worker, was named vice-chairman.
Next meeting set
The group will question the Mercer County commissioners, who make up the county board of elections, when the committee next meets at 3:30 Monday in the commissioners' meeting room in the basement of the courthouse. Professor Michael Wright of Grove City College will also address the committee. Coulter said that Wright, a computer engineering instructor, will examine the technical aspects of the computer failure and report back to the committee.
Coulter invited any member of the public who has questions for the committee to e-mail him at mlcoulter@gcc.edu.