PA County Probes Flop That Left 75K Voters Out Of Ballot Books

A week after Pennsylvania’s general election, the Chester County Board of Elections is still working through its legal review of 12,100 provisional ballots cast on Nov. 4 so it can come up with election results. It is also preparing for an investigation into why 75,000 third-party registered voters were left out of the poll book.

The county uses paper poll books where voters sign next to their name before they vote. But in this election, only the names of registered Republicans and Democrats were listed in the poll books. Voters who were among the 75,000 independent and unaffiliated inviduals who were not listed had to cast provisional ballots.

Normally the county gets fewer than 1,000 provisional ballots in similar elections, a spokeswoman for Chester County told The Federalist in a phone call. As of Tuesday, Nov. 11, the county had completed 8,200 reviews of the 12,100 provisional ballots.

Chester County says on its website that it did not run out of provisional ballots at any of its 230 precincts on Election Day, but some precincts ran out of provisional secrecy envelopes to hold the ballots themselves, and the county was able to replenish the supply. Polling places stayed open until 10 p.m.

The county has identified key questions to be answered in an investigation, Chester County CEO David Byerman said in a statement.

“Staff have been instructed to preserve all relevant materials, including evidence and notes, to support the investigatory process. We have also held a preliminary meeting with the Pennsylvania Department of State to understand its capacity to assist in the review,” Byerman said. “In addition, we are identifying law firms and/or subject matter experts qualified to conduct an independent investigation.”

As The Federalist previously reported, independent and unaffiliated voters don’t vote in the spring primary election. That is when registered Republicans and Democrats choose candidates they want at the top of the ticket in their own parties. It is a logical assumption that the county was working with a primary poll book in the general election, but it is not clear why that was not noticed before voting commenced.

Chester has posted a timeline on its website detailing what happens next in the investigation.

Monday, Nov. 17, “Chester County administrative leadership will announce the independent party selected to conduct the investigation.” It will also announce the deadlines and expectations. County officials want the investigation wrapped up by mid-December and they hope to present the findings to the public at the December or January election meeting.

Friday, Nov. 21, the county will offer “an update on the investigation process” during the Chester County Board of Elections meeting at 10 a.m. The county still expects to certify its election results this same day.

“The formal investigation will begin once all votes have been counted to ensure that the process does not interfere with the certification of the election,” Byerman said in the statement.

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.