Count on more than a few disgruntled citizens to be in attendance at the 1 p.m. Sunday screening of the documentary film Uncounted at the State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave.

The film, made by Emmy award-winning director David Earnhardt, exposes lesser-known details and evidence about election fraud and voting mishaps that occurred during the U.S. presidential election in 2004 as well as the congressional elections in 2006.

The "Issues" page of uncountedthemovie.com explores problems facing electronic voting equipment, including touch screen voting machines, the kind currently used in Centre County. Touch screen voting does not provide a paper record, something that unsettles Mary Vollero, chairwoman for Concerned Voters of Centre County, one of the organizations sponsoring the showing of the film.

"This film brings to light facts that were not discussed in the mainstream media -- just ignored," Vollero said, whose nonpartisan, nonprofit organization has been making concerted efforts to halt the use of touch-screen voting and to reintroduce authentic paper voting.

On the other hand, not all are opposed to electronic voting machines. Joyce McKinley, Centre County's director of elections, said there will be no change in the types of machines used for the primary.

"The voter has to learn to trust the machines," McKinley said, who added that most voters have been in favor of the touch screen machines.

Paper printers have been banned at voting polls because the state of Pennsylvania, among other states, feels they have the ability to compromise secrecy, Vollero said.

Susan Welch, professor of political science and dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said experts have reported that it is easy to tamper with the machines.

"Without a paper trail, deliberate fraud or honest errors are impossible to track," she said. "In close elections, areas with machine voting without paper trails are going to be under suspicion."

Concerned Voters of Centre County and State College Peace Center, which will host the screening alongside sponsor American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), were responsible for booking post-film speakers Harvey Wasserman and Marybeth Kuznik, both of whom were also featured in Earnhardt's documentary.

Wasserman co-authored the book How the GOP Stole America's 2004 Election and is Rigging 2008 and Kuznik is president of VotePA, an organization focused on preserving election integrity.

"They have been on the front lines in trying to get this issue out to the people," Vollero said. "[Marybeth] has worked tirelessly trying to get to the word out to citizens in Pennsylvania about how we need to have a paper record and how important it is."

Other problems with the present voting system that the film addresses include lost votes, long lines, dishonest fliers sent out to voters with incorrectly changed dates and times and voter suppression via the targeting of specific races and populations.

Earlier this month, Uncounted received positive reviews when screened at the Connecticut Film Festival and the White Sands Independent Film Festival in New Mexico, two of the few showings in the movie's very limited release.

Mike Negra, executive director at the State Theatre, said the local screening is timely given the voting issues that have been dealt with recently in Centre County.

"The message about paperless voting machines is obviously very important," Negra said. "It leaves no paper trail."

Vollero said that with Pennsylvania being a pivotal state in the upcoming Democratic primary, people need to educate themselves about voting methods.

"I'd love to see [the state government] correct this problem in time for the primary, but our county doesn't have the will right now," Vollero said.

She said it is more likely that a new system could be instituted by November for the presidential election if citizens band together and inform the county commissioner of their opinions.

There will be two upcoming forums in Centre County this spring held by the county commissioners, where the public can air grievances about unfair documenting of the votes.

"No system is perfect," Vollero added. "But this is scary."