Complaints About Privacy Follow Switch to Paper Ballots

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As many Pennsylvania counties adopting new hand-marked ballot voting systems, a persistent criticism is a perceived loss of privacy in polling places when filling them out and scanning them. State lawmakers raised those complaints Wednesday with Gov. Tom Wolf’s top elections officials during an Appropriations Committee hearing. Critics say other voters or poll workers may be able to see how someone voted while they are filling out their ballot or while they are feeding their ballot into an electronic scanner that reads it. Election officials say some complaints can be solved by using curtains or other privacy devices, or changing a polling place’s layout.