Cheapo voting machines led to problems - plus 4 other York County fiascos (opinion)

It was more cost-effective than other options.

That’s the way an official explained how York County chose the new voting system that resulted in long lines at some polls, angry voters, frustrated poll workers and voting results that took almost two days to sort out. Thank goodness this wasn’t a presidential election!

“Cost-effective.”

Is that the same thing as “cheap”?

Well, the new system cost $1.5 million. And now apologetic county officials are saying we’ll need to buy more of these “cost-effective” scanners. The old cliché, “penny-wise and pound foolish,” comes to mind.

Why didn’t the county meet the federal and state mandates for “paper trail’ machines by choosing a system that has a touch screen and prints a paper receipt? Instead we all got to take political SAT tests, filling in the bubbles – except with Sharpies instead of No. 2 pencils.

Well, it’s certainly not the first time the county has screwed up. Let’s take a stroll down York County Fiasco Memory Lane...

Strickler House

Let’s actually start out near Memory Lane — at the prison. The county recently took a major step toward demolishing the Strickler House, built before 1750. It’s one of the most historic buildings in the county, but the commissioners say it will cost too much to restore. At one point, it looked like the coroner’s office would go there, but apparently that idea is, well, dead. Like this piece of history.

New Judicial Center

Maybe the biggest York County fiasco in recent memory was the new Judicial Center. It opened in 2004, and problems soon became evident — leaky windows, etc. Ultimately, the $62 million project grew to a $69 million price tag.

911 Center

The county recently hired a contractor for $750,000 to overhaul operations at the new(ish) 911 system – which has cost about $70 million over the past 15 years, with lots and lots of bugs and problems.

Children and Youth Services

York County Children Youth and Family Services has been a source of continuous problems over the years, with staff burnout and low pay leading to turnover, leading to provisional operating licenses from the state, leading to innocent children at risk.

New commissioners...

Ultimately, the votes did get counted. Yay! But new Commissioners Julie Wheeler, Ron Smith and returning incumbent Doug Hoke certainly have their work cut out for them in the years to come.

Scott Fisher is opinion page editor and community engagement editor. Phone: 717-771-2049. Email: sfisher@ydr.com.