Pa. top election official: Vote won't be rigged

With Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggesting to supporters that the presidency could be stolen from him, Pennsylvania's chief election official assured voters Thursday that the state's elections process will be fair and the counts accurate.

Pedro A. Cortés, secretary of the commonwealth, disputed suggestions that the voting system lacked integrity or security.

"This is not only wrong and uninformed, it is also dangerous," he said. "To imply that fraud is rampant at any level, from the precinct to an entire city or state, is without merit and lacks any credence or proof within the modern history of elections in this country, including this commonwealth."

Last week, at an appearance in Wilkes-Barre, Trump suggested that the election could be unfairly lost in the state.

"I just hear such reports about Philadelphia," he told a reporter at that time. "We have to make sure this election is not stolen from us."

Philadelphia has been a target of suggestions of voter fraud by conservatives. But local officials of both major parties have dismissed those claims.

Cortés, a Democrat, said that all voting systems in use in Pennsylvania had been examined and certified to federal and state standards.

The state's voting machines are not connected to the internet or to one another, he said. After a preelection accuracy test, he said, the machines are locked, to detect tampering.

Cortés warned that the intimidation or harassing of voters is illegal. Publishing misleading or false information about voting can be a form of voter intimidation, he said.

"Whoever thinks it is cute or funny to post messages on social media or through some other means to mislead the voters about the process of voting in Pennsylvania and voters' rights will be investigated and very likely prosecuted," he said.

With the election less than three weeks away, partisans on both sides are preparing their own efforts to monitor the polls. Some say they are stepping up such activity in response to Trump's rhetoric - and suspicions of what the other side might be doing in turn.

"Trump has come here three or four times and explicitly talked about the system being rigged, so I don't think it's a stretch to think some people may be inspired or encouraged by his rhetoric," said Pittsburgh attorney Cliff Levine, who serves as cocounsel to state Democrats.

Levine said Democrats hope to increase the number of lawyers statewide ready to respond to Election Day issues.

State GOP spokeswoman Megan Sweeney said Republicans were not doing much differently from previous years, although she said that she had been getting a lot of media calls and that party officials were "telling volunteers at the polls to be respectful."

Asked about challenges in previous election cycles, she said: "The reason we all have Election Day operations is to make sure people maintain their confidence in the system. And if they have concerns, there is an outlet for them" in the process.

"I'm not really worried" about disruptions, added Levine, "but we have a heightened level of focus because of what Trump has been saying. We're addressing that and we're prepared."