The era of electronic voting in Pennsylvania got off to a bumpy start at some polling places on Tuesday -- but local leaders are saying it wasn't as hectic as it seemed.

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How did things really go at the polls? Call 4 Action reporter Aaron Saykin said it depends on whom you ask.

WTAE Channel 4 Action News received complaints from voters at several polling places, mostly related to the new touch-screen voting machines. It appeared that some poll workers struggled with the machines, and some voters said they were told to come back later.

Common Cause, a nonpartisan election watchdog group, said it received more complaints from voters in Pennsylvania than any other state -- and it ranked Allegheny County the sixth most problematic county in the nation for Tuesday's election, with many of the complaints claiming poll workers were not familiar enough with the new electronic voting machines.

But on Wednesday, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato called the voting process a success.

"It went relatively smooth and compared to the lever machines, it wasn't a big problem," said Onorato. "Common Cause didn't tell you that yesterday in the press conference."

"There was some human error at the beginning of the day. There was some technical, turning-them-on issues," Onorato said. "But overall, it worked -- and it worked very well. In comparing to the old machines, it was much better of a day."

When a reporter asked if poll workers had been adequately trained to use the new equipment, Onorato said, "Oh, absolutely. You have to put this in perspective. We have 4,700 new machines. Twenty-five of them had problems and they were corrected within the first two hours."

Onorato said there were fewer legal challenges on Tuesday than there typically were with the old voting machines.

State elections officials also called the day a success.

But an expert working with Common Cause shot back at Onorato and the county's history with its voting system.

"They're on their third electronic voting machine vendor," said Common Cause. "A number of Pittsburgh citizens pressed for the adoption of an optical scan system and (Onorato) resisted. He fought tooth and nail to buy electronic voting."

The leader of the state Republican Party wants an investigation into possible machine malfunctions and irregularities, even though the Pennsylvania secretary of state, who certifies the results, said any suggestion that machines were failing across the state is simply untrue.

In Westmoreland County, elections officials are seeking answers about the early-morning problems with voting machines. The Elections Bureau said it's probably going to take a few weeks to certify official results, because they want to use the fail-safe on every machine.

A February Team 4 Investigation revealed that ES & S settled a $1 million lawsuit in the state of Indiana, where officials accused the company of installing uncertified software on its electronic voting machines.

On Tuesday night, state Attorney General Tom Corbett weighed in, saying that for him to investigate, there would have to be evidence of intentional fraud, not just human or mechanical error.

Corbett also said the Secretary of State would have to formally request an investigation, and so far, no such request has been made.

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