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Provisional ballots approved following Election Day blunder

By Olivia Goudy ogoudy@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

The Fayette County Election Bureau met on Wednesday afternoon to individually approve the provisional ballots that were provided to 27 voters after a precinct blunder on Election Day.

It was discovered around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 4 that voting machines in Jefferson Township were programmed for the incorrect state representative, having been given the ballot for Lower Tyrone Township, according to the court order.

A similar problem was discovered around 10 a.m. in Lower Tyrone Township, as they had been given the ballot for Henry Clay Township instead of their own, according to court papers.

Fayette County solicitor Sheryl Heid said they sent out 16 provisional ballots to those who voted in Lower Tyrone Township. She confirmed that 12 were returned with valid votes. The remaining four were returned without votes — three refusing to vote again and one person officials were unable to locate, according to election bureau director Larry Blosser. For voters in Jefferson Township, all 11 provisional ballots were received with valid votes.

Blosser said they would add the new figures to the ones from the machines.

“I am very much disappointed in the election board and the county solicitor on this because I’ve never heard one word from anyone on the election board,” said Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink during the meeting. She added that she heard about the snafu only after calling chief solicitor John Cupp for an unrelated question.

“I totally understand that things are important and things had to be acted upon swiftly,” she continued. “However, that was Tuesday, Nov. 4, and this is the first conversation [about it].”

Blosser contended that he was under the impression that Commissioner Vince Zapotosky was going to contact Zimmerlink. Zapotosky said he sent Zimmerlink several text messages to alert her to the problem. He also said he left a hard copy of the court order in her mailbox, though she did not receive it until the following day.

“They’re the professionals, they’re the people that know the systems, and I think they operate very effectively and efficiently in getting a solution to the problem,” said Commissioner Al Ambrosini. “Election Day is very hectic around here, a lot of things going on — it’s more important to solve the problem than to contact — I’ll speak for myself — to contact me.”

Blosser called the blunder a human error, adding that “everyone makes mistakes.” In the future, in the written instructions provided to poll workers, there will be extra steps on how to verify that the precincts are programmed into the correct voting machines.

“We shut the machines down and fixed the rest of the equipment,” said Blosser, adding that they dealt with each precinct as the problem arose.

Heid and Blosser appeared before President Judge John F. Wagner Jr. on Nov. 4 to ask for approval to send provisional ballots to those who cast votes on the flawed machines. Through phone calls and post correspondence, they were able to reach the ousted voters.

“For someone to say there was ‘no harm, no foul,’ that’s totally incorrect. There was harm, and there was foul,” said Zimmerlink.

In other news, Zimmerlink also asked that the election bureau board be reorganized. Zapotosky nominated himself for chairman of the election board. Zimmerlink made the motion while Ambrosini voted against it.

Similarly, Zapotosky made a motion to nominate Zimmerlink as vice chairman, to which she seconded and Ambrosini voted against. Zapotosky then nominated Ambrosini as secretary of the board, to which he chose to abstain. Zapotosky and Zimmerlink both voted in favor, overruling Ambrosini’s decline.

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