Election Systems & Software

ExpressVote XL Voting System Contract

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Settlement Agreement in Effect

August 2023 settlement requires software upgrades and malfunction tracking. Three PA counties affected: Northampton, Cumberland, Philadelphia.

$2,880,000
Total Contract Value
Units Purchased
320 Machines
Cost Per Unit
$8,250
Approval Date
May 2019

Contract Timeline

May 2019
County Council Approves Purchase
Commissioners approved $2.88M for 320 ExpressVote XL machines after over an hour of public comment.
Summer 2019
Machines Delivered & Installed
ES&S deployed machines across Northampton County polling locations.
November 2019
Election Day Problems
Touch-screen glitches and programming misconfiguration caused incorrect vote tallies in judge's race.
December 2019
Federal Lawsuit Filed
Election security groups sued PA Department of State, arguing machines should not have been certified.
2019-2020
Council Demands Refund
County Council members demanded refund on $2.8M purchase; some called for different system.
August 2023
Settlement Agreement Reached
PA Secretary of State required software upgrades and malfunction tracking for all ExpressVote XL counties.
2024
Primary Election Audit Passed
Risk-limiting audit of 2024 primary found no issues with results.

Documented Issues

Contract Details

Vendor Election Systems & Software LLC
Headquarters Omaha, Nebraska
Product ExpressVote XL (full-face ballot marking device)
PA Certification Certified by PA Department of State
Other PA Counties Using Cumberland, Philadelphia
Settlement Requirements Software upgrade, malfunction tracking, enhanced security

Comparison: Philadelphia ES&S Settlement

For reference, Philadelphia's larger ES&S contract resulted in penalties:

Philadelphia Contract $29,000,000
Penalty Paid by ES&S $2,900,000 (record)
Reason VP Finance failed to disclose $400K+ consultant activities including campaign contributions

Sources