By Marcia Moore
SUNBURY — Concerns about whether voters may have been influenced by the scrawled name of a write-in candidate supposedly added to a voting machine in Northumberland County apparently turned out to be much ado about nothing.
County election officials checked the Point Township machines on Monday and could find no trace of vandalism on any of them.
The voting machines were locked up for 20 days following the Nov. 3 election when officials received a anonymous call, reporting a voter had written John Billheim’s name directly onto a machine. Billheim failed in a bid as a write-in candidate for a six-year term as Point Township supervisor.
No formal complaint was ever lodged about the incident, Elections Director Scott Dunn said.
But since an allegation was made, the law required the county to put the voting machines into lockdown for 20 days.
On Monday, the 20-day lockdown period ended and officials opened the machines to inspect them at the county administration building.
No markings, names or anything else was found on any of the machines from Point Township, Dunn and Commissioner Vinny Clausi said.
The machines will be cleaned this week and placed in storage until the May primary.
No formal complaint was ever lodged so there will be no further action, Dunn said.
