Edward C. Gainey isn't convinced he lost the Democratic nomination for state representative in the 24th District to incumbent Joseph Preston of East Liberty.

But the process to challenge the results is too expensive and information is unavailable to make a case, Mr. Gainey told the Allegheny County Board of Elections yesterday just before members officially certified the results of the May 16 primary.

The final results -- which included 17 paper ballots just found yesterday -- showed Mr. Preston with 3,296 votes, Mr. Gainey, 3,203, and William Anderson, 524. Board members voted unanimously to certify the first election using electronic voting machines, but they acknowledged the need for improvements in some areas for the November general election.

Mr. Gainey said he was dismayed the bureau of elections was still finding votes weeks after the election and that a machine cartridge with 24 votes that hadn't been counted election night showed several different totals when officials tried to read it on June 2.

"For the sake of democracy, I think it's paramount we do what we can for voter security," Mr. Gainey said. "We're still finding ballots four or five weeks after the election. As a candidate, that is disturbing."

Elections Director Mark Wolosik said 17 absentee ballots were put in the wrong place when poll results were turned over to the bureau and officials didn't find them until yesterday. He also explained that officials weren't following the correct procedure when they tried to read the machine cartridge, causing it to show incorrect totals, but he assured the board the correct figures eventually were tabulated.

Before certifying the election, the board heard more than two hours of concerns from voters' rights groups who complained about lack of security for paper ballots -- they were collected and transported in cardboard boxes -- handicapped accessibility and the lack of a verifiable paper trail for electronic machines. The county didn't require a paper trail because the state hasn't certified any machines that use it.

Board Chairman John DeFazio said he was "surprised there weren't more problems" with the electronic machines.

"We want to have a better situation for November," he said.

Another board member, county Councilman Dave Fawcett, encouraged the county to consider challenging the state's refusal to certify machines with a paper trail. Advocates say that is the only way to ensure there is no election fraud, but state officials are concerned that a paper trail could reveal the identity of voters and how they voted.

"The red flags are flying -- in fact they are whipping in the wind," said Mr. Fawcett, claiming the county is facing a "potential disaster" if votes are lost due to electronic machine failures or someone tampering with results.

Election Systems & Software of Nebraska supplied temporary, used machines for last month's election. That included five with software that wasn't directly certified by the state but functioned appropriately. The company is expected to begin delivering about 4,700 new, permanent machines in September.