Auditor says officials took voting machine vendors’ freebies

Pennsylvania’s elected auditor said Friday that officials in 18 of the state’s 67 counties reported accepting gifts, meals or trips from firms competing to sell or lease new voting machines ahead of the 2020 elections.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said accepting the gifts is wrong, even though it’s a legal practice and officials may have taken no action in return.

“Anyone who took them, period, could be swayed by the perks,” he said. Public officials, he said, should not “accept this nonsense.”

The gifts included expense-paid travel to destinations including...