Dauphin County ready to count votes, combat misinformation on Election Day

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – After a brutal 2020 election season plagued by baseless conspiracies over election fraud, counties across Pennsylvania are laser-focused on countering misinformation this November.

“The only thing we can do is control and prepare so we can say to the naysayers that [misinformation[ is clearly misguided,” Dauphin County Commissioner George Hartwick said.

For months, Dauphin County has prepared for November 5.

“We’re testing every single one of our scanners that are going to the polling places, as well as our central scanners used to count the mail-in ballots and absentee ballots,” said Chris Spackman, who works with Dauphin County Voter Registration.

About 33,000 mail-in ballots in Dauphin County have been mailed out to voters who requested them. As of Oct. 10, 13,000 have returned.

“As the mail-in ballots come back, we’re able to send it through [a machine],” Spackman said. “There’s a high-speed camera that captures the barcode on the ballot and ties it to the voter.”

That machine can then flag ballots that need to be cured, something Dauphin County permits.

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