Jul 21, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Pennsylvania decertifies county's voting machines after audit

Axios

An official ballot box and the setup around it ahead of the presidential elections in Pittsburgh, Penn., in November 2020 — Photo: Aaron Jackendoff/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Pennsylvania's acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid announced Wednesday she decertified Fulton County voting equipment for future elections after officials allowed a private company to examine the machines during an audit of the 2020 election, violating the state's election code.

Why it matters: Degraffenreid said the company was able to "access certain key components of its certified system." Pennsylvania is the second state after Arizona to have decertified an election system because of dubious audit requests by pro-Trump Republicans.

The push for an audit came from state lawmakers who supported former President Trump's baseless claims about the presidential election result.

What they're saying: Degraffenreid's office said in a statement that Fulton County officials had "allowed Wake TSI, a company with no knowledge or expertise in election technology, to access certain key components of its certified system, including the county's election database, results files, and Windows systems logs."

"The county officials also allowed the company to use a system imaging tool to take complete hard drive images of these computers and other digital equipment."

Of note: The Post obtained a county document showing that Wake TSI was "'contracted' to a nonprofit group run by Sidney Powell, a pro-Trump lawyer."

"Wake TSI submitted a draft report in February saying the election had been 'well run' and 'conducted in a diligent and effective manner,' county documents show."

This post has been updated with further details from Degraffenreid's letter.

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Pennsylvania decertifies county's voting machines after audit

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