Elections Panel Letter to VanSickle

February 28, 2007

Mr. Harry Van Sickle, Commissioner
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Department of State
Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation
210 North Office Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Mr. Van Sickle,

In early January 2007, the Northampton County Executive formed an ad-hoc, non-partisan advisory committee to research and make recommendations to improve the customer service and performance of the Northampton County Elections Office. This committee has publicly met regularly and listened to various testimonies from citizens, employees, elected officials, and Northampton County Elections Commission board members regarding the above subject material.

Also addressed in the Committee discussions has been the topic of the PA Department of State certification of the Advanced Voting Solutions (AVS) WinVote machines purchased and used by Northampton County. Specifically, the topic of whether or not the voting machine hardware that was certified by the Commonwealth was in fact in the machines received by Northampton County.

At the February 21, 2007 the Committee made a motion to direct the County Administration to send formal communication to the Secretary of State, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requesting to see the certification of the specific machines used in the last two elections. The Committee wants documentation that the hardware shipped by Advanced Voting Solutions is, in fact, what was approved.

They have requested that this letter ask for a response within 10 days of receipt and for copies of this letter to be sent to the various state legislative representatives from the Lehigh Valley.
The Northampton County Executive and the Voter’s Registration - Citizen’s Advisory Committee thank you in advance for your prompt assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,


John R. Conklin
County Administrator