February 11, 2025
"Vote-Counting Computers": Data Analysts Recommend Investigation into 2024 Pennsylvania Election Results
On January 19, President-Elect Donald Trump made remarks on Elon Musk’s familiarity with “vote-counting computers” relative to “winning Pennsylvania."
PA, UNITED STATES, February 11, 2025 -- The Election Truth Alliance (ETA) is advocating for increased transparency around the 2024 U.S. Presidential election results in the state of Pennsylvania after remarks at a pre-inauguration rally on January 19, 2025. At the rally, President-Elect Donald Trump commented on Elon Musk’s familiarity with “vote-counting computers” in relation to “winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide.”
“The specific reference to ‘vote-counting computers’ in this context is concerning,” says Nathan Taylor, ETA Executive Director of Advocacy and Public Engagement. “Vote tabulators are essentially ballot-counting machines and are a critical part of America’s election infrastructure. Some are built-in, and others are stand-alone systems. Tabulators can scan and interpret ballots, store ballot images, and add vote totals. If tabulators have been compromised, we have a huge problem with the integrity of our elections.”
Pennsylvania experienced a high volume of voting system malfunctions on Election Day, with machine error reports from at least 20 of 67 counties later made public. Many of these error reports concern ballot scanner/vote tabulator machines failing to scan ballots. A majority of the error reports concern either Election Systems & Software (ES&S) or Dominion Voting Systems, both of which were the target of massive, multi-state election security breaches between 2020 and 2024.
Voting system vulnerabilities are well-known among cybersecurity and election security experts. According to previous independent academic studies, malicious software running on a single voting machine can manipulate votes with little risk of detection. Anyone who has physical access to a voting machine, or to a memory card that will later be inserted into a machine, can install said malicious software using a simple method that takes as little as one minute.
Moreover, ETA data analysis has documented significant “drop-off vote” irregularities in Pennsylvania in 2024. “Drop-off votes” are the difference between votes for the Presidential race and the next down-ballot race (for Pennsylvania in 2024, the Senate). In 47 out of 67 counties, Candidate Harris received fewer votes than Senator Bob Casey, Jr. This is atypical of recent Pennsylvania voting patterns and warrants further investigation.
In the 20 counties that reported machine errors, at least 17 of those same counties also demonstrated this atypical drop-off trend in their county election results.
Additionally, ETA analysts have identified a lack of alignment between the registered Democratic voter base in certain counties relative to the recorded votes for Candidate Harris. For example, results in Fayette County show that Candidate Harris received 39% fewer votes than the county’s registered Democratic voter base while Candidate Trump’s results surged to 6% more votes than registered Republicans in the county. While the Washington Township Judge of Elections sought a hand recount in Fayette County, the effort was halted by an emergency court petition on November 5, 2024.
Bomb threats were also called in to over 30 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties on Election Day. The bomb threats targeted polling places, election officials, and other government buildings. While none of these threats were substantiated, evacuations and other precautionary measures caused delays to voting and ballot-counting in some counties.
The Election Truth Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that supports election analysis, informed discussion, and peaceful action to highlight potential election manipulation, interference, and irregularities. The organization is calling on local and state officials to initiate an investigation, including potential hand audits of paper ballots, in order to safeguard the integrity of future elections, and to ensure that Pennsylvanians' constitutional right to vote was upheld.
Josh Johnson
Election Truth Alliance
+1 213-444-0838