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FACT BRIEF

Did Pennsylvania decertify voting machines because of what an audit found?

By Ali Swenson
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NO

Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid decertified voting machines in Fulton County because the county gave software firm Wake TSI access to the machines, not because of any problems the company found.

In a letter to county officials, Degraffenreid said that the inspection by Wake TSI, which was requested by local Republican lawmakers, violated state law. It was done in a manner that “was not transparent or bipartisan” and the firm had “no knowledge or expertise in election technology,” Degraffenreid wrote.

Degraffenreid’s letter said neither Fulton County nor the vendor, Dominion Voting Systems, nor the Department of State “can verify that the impacted components of Fulton County’s leased voting system are safe to use in future elections.”

Pennsylvania law requires that voting machine testing be done by a federally accredited lab. Wake TSI is not federally accredited.  

See a full discussion of this at The Associated Press
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
AP News Pennsylvania decertifies county’s voting system after audit
Pennsylvania Department of State Letter to Fulton County officials decertifying voting system
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The Associated Press
The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.