Philadelphia launches voluntary recount after finding major vote total discrepancies

[Aimee in OKC]

49. Voting machine information in Philadelphia ...

Philadelphia County = Danaher Shouptronic 1242 DRE-Push Button in 1,686 precincts

... the Shouptronic used a second programmable read-only memory chip.

The key property of programmable read-only memory or PROM is that once data is written to PROM, the data is difficult or impossible to erase. In contrast, data in read-write memory can be written, erased, and changed arbitrarily. In eect, the programmable read-only memory used in the Shouptronic cartridge has properties similar to the paper ballots retained by the Optech scanner or to the printed paper record of the Microvote machine. All of these machines maintained redundant but more vulnerable records in read-write memory. On the Optech machine, the read-write memory was in the memory cartridge, while on the Microvote and Shouptronic machines the read-write memory was a permanent part of the machine itself.

KNOWN SECURITY CONCERNS:
*SECURITY SEALS = Ideally, the 1242’s exposed ports, memory card access areas and case seams would be covered with tamper-evident security seals. The integrity of these seals should be maintained at all times, and only breached under controlled, explained circumstances. Seals should be logged to maintain chain of custody of sensitive materials.

*MEMORY CARDS = The 1242 is an older type of machine that uses a particularly sensitive and volatile type of memory (battery-backed RAM memory). Care should be taken with memory cards and they should only be handled by pollworkers and authorized election officials, then in controlled circumstances such as the opening and closing of polls.

*BROKEN BUTTONS, BROKEN LIGHTS = The 1242 is a “button-matrix” DRE where the voter presses a button over which the machine’s paper ballot face is placed (under a plastic cover). A light lights up next to each selection by the voter. These buttons and lights, especially the frequently used ones in Federal races, can break or burn-out. If you see evidence of this – e.g., a light not lighting up after multiple button presses – you should request that the machine be pulled from service or that the button in question be serviced.

*FLEEING VOTERS/PREMATURE VOTING = Some voters can be easily confused in that they press the large “VOTE” button too early or not at all. If a voter complains that they only were able to vote on the first few races, they probably pressed the “VOTE” button before they were finished voting their ballot. Unfortunately, there’s not much to be done here other than emphasize that voters should make sure that they press the “VOTE” button only after they are certain they have voted as they want to in all races on the ballot. If a voter neglects to press the “VOTE” button and leaves a valid ballot on the machine, poll workers will probably have procedures to deal with this problem. ...

*INCORRECT BALLOT STYLE = The 1242 can accommodate a number of different ballots, for different precincts, by disallowing voters to vote in contests for which they are not eligible. If a voter complains that their party (in a primary) races are not activated or that local races specific to their precinct are not activated, the poll worker probably pushed the incorrect ballot style option. The poll worker should cancel that ballot and activate the correct one.

https://www.verifiedvoting.org/resources/voting-equipment/danaher/shouptronic/