Six weeks ago the Election Reform Network released a study of 2008 general election results in Montgomery County that uncovered widespread disparities between machine counts and voter records at the polls. At that time the Election Board indicated concern and vowed to investigate and respond publicly.

Their response last Wednesday might be described as a heaping helping of outright dismissal with a sprinkling of concern and willingness to do better. The attorney speaking for the Department of Voter Services,characterized ERN results, which included disparities in three-quarters of county election districts, as "not for you (the Election Board) to do anything about." He went on to say that

Watchdog group spotlights lost votes in electronic machines
By Jenna Portnoy
May 15,2010
OF THE MORNING CALL

It won't matter how much time you spend comparing the records of U.S. Senate candidates Joe Sestak and Arlen Specter if your vote doesn't count Tuesday.

That's the message election watchdogs in Montgomery County hope to get across in a report released this week.

The Election Reform Network found that the number of Montgomery residents who showed up to vote in the 2008 presidential election rarely exactly matched the tally on the electronic voting machines. No one knows what happened to the missing voters.

Election officials generally blame the discrepancy on human error. But others worry the machines could be to blame.

''All you can do is print ballot images churned out by the same software that recorded the vote,'' said Steve Strahs of Melrose Park, who wrote the report. ''You have what amounts to a black box. You can't audit the system, you can't recount the votes.''

A federal law suit seeking redress against the Chester County Election Board for practices that resulted in unconscionably long lines and as much as a day-long wait to vote at a poll near Lincoln University back in the November 08 election has - thankfully - put election administration back in the spotlight for a minor media moment.  The Inquirer recently ran a piece by columnist Mark Bowden on the incident entitled "Indefensible."   Why not tell The Inquirer at inquirer.letters@phillynews.com that the issue is much bigger than one egregious precinct in Chester County?

And they undoubtedly glanced over Pennsylvania's recent state budget fiasco.  Last year the interests that blocked adequate revenue from reaching the state's coffers were many, but they all had one thing in common: big bucks "invested" politically.  Want to tax the natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale?  You say it's a no-brainer from a policy perspective.  Sorry.  Governor Rendell backed away and the legislature ran for cover – maybe next year.  The gas industry recently showered state senate leaders with more than $200,000 in campaign contributions and the governor was rewarded, too (all before the fact) .