Centre County voters may see new feature at the polls this primary election

Some Centre County residents voting in person during next week’s primary election will see a new feature at their polling place that officials say will increase efficiency and security for poll workers and voters alike.

Electronic poll pads, purchased by the county commissioners in early March, will replace traditional paper poll books in half of the county’s 91 precincts Tuesday. Precincts one through 47, which includes Bellefonte, State College, Philipsburg and College Township polling places, among others, will be the first to debut the new technology.

Precinct 45, Curtin North, will not receive a poll pad due to its small amount of voters.

Precincts 48 through 91 won’t use the electronic pads this election cycle, as their half of the poll pads have yet to be purchased. The county will purchase their pads in the fall for use at the Nov. 4 election.

The county paid $246,315 for the first 211 pads, the agenda for the commissioners meeting on March 4 shows. Each precinct will be equipped with two to three pads, depending on the precinct’s population.

The electronic pads have a multitude of benefits compared to the paper books they’re replacing, according to a county press release.

“Adding electronic poll pads will make each stage of the election process more secure and efficient for voters, poll workers and election workers,” the release states. “Transitioning to poll pads is meant to bolster security of voting. Poll pads generate a unique receipt for each person who is checked in by poll workers, and a voter must present their receipt to receive a ballot.”

Because the pads are electronic, poll workers will no longer have to manually flip through page after page of their poll books to find a voter’s name, effectively speeding up the voting process. The poll pads do not connect to the internet when being used.

The pads will also be able to generate ballot count data, more easily identify discrepancies in the data and expedite verification of the data after elections, a process that, according to the release, typically takes “hundreds of man hours” to complete when combed through manually.

“I’ve been working with the poll pads since 2020 at my previous county, and there, the poll workers loved them, the voters loved them — it just streamlines things, especially during a presidential (election), and makes things so fast,” Election Director Melanie Bailey said at the commissioners’ March 4 meeting. “You can actually use all three of those poll pads at the same time too, instead of just the one book. ... They all talk, internally, with each other.”

What can voters expect at their polling place?

While the voting process is expected to speed up for all parties at the precincts Tuesday, the debut of the pads will come with some changes.

When a resident walks into their respective precinct, a poll worker will ask for their name then look up that voter using the poll pad. The poll worker will confirm with the voter their address and date of birth before asking them to sign the pad.

Once the voter’s information has been confirmed and the pad has been signed, a receipt will be printed from the pad that the voter will exchange for a ballot. From there, the voting process will proceed as usual.

If a voter’s information cannot be confirmed, the pads will deliver a warning prompt and guidance for poll workers, depending on the situation.

In April, when the poll workers were training with the new pads, guidance messages were shown for situations that included inactive voters, voters who require assistance and voters who show up to an incorrect precinct.

“Let’s say that someone goes to the wrong precinct — [the pads] can print out a slip that will show them the address of their correct polling station,” Bailey said during the March meeting. “The pads have every single voter in Centre County registered on them too, not just the voters for whatever precinct it happens to be at.”

With the implementation of the electronic poll pads at next week’s primary, Centre County will join 28 other counties across Pennsylvania that already use them.

To look up your polling location and see a list of Centre County precincts, visit the county’s elections website at centrecountypa.gov/3536/Polling-Locations.