HARRISBURG — For the second time this year, a touch-screen voting system used by three Western Pennsylvania counties has failed to be certified by the state.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes said in a report that even an updated version of the UniLect Corp.'s so-called Patriot voting system does not meet the state's standards.

In April, the state banned Beaver, Mercer and Greene counties from using the Patriot systems they've had for several years. The ban was prompted after all three counties had higher than normal "undercounts" — the difference between the number of voters casting ballots and the total number of votes counted — in last November's election.

A subsequent test found problems with the system and all three counties had to use paper ballots in the May primaries. The counties will have to use paper ballots in the upcoming November election as well.

Cortes decertified the system after those tests earlier this year; after the company asked for another test of an updated system, the state tested it again in August.

But Cortes' latest report, issued Friday, said the new, color-screen version of the system had many of the same problems as the older, black-and-white screen version.

By The Associated Press