Carbon hand count audit gets underway over error in Election Day vote tallying system
A hand count audit of election votes began Saturday in Carbon County following an error in the tallying system for last week’s election.
“The hand count audit is really the preferred route members of the board of elections want to take before they vote later this month to certify the election results,” said Commissioner William O’Gurek, chairman of the county election board.
The process began on Saturday morning, but not before the county was advised the Republican Party of Carbon County plans to file an objection to the process in court on Tuesday morning in an effort to stop the hand count.
Ten county employees, either of the election bureau or under the jurisdiction of the commissioners’ office, participated in Saturday’s process, working from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Three teams of three people reviewed the ballots and hand calculated the results, recording votes for each candidate.
Starting alphabetically, they completed Banks Township and Beaver Meadows and Bowmanstown boroughs, as well as two districts in East Penn Township.
“There were minimal changes that were found in the hand count compared to the unofficial results released by the county on Wednesday morning after the scanned totals of each of the 51 precincts were entered into a spreadsheet,” O’Gurek said. “That process was implemented after the programmed system did not allow totals of some precincts to be added to the overall totals, resulting in wrong totals initially being announced by the county.”
O’Gurek added, “All three election board members are of the opinion that the hand count is needed to verify the numbers, mainly on the premise that there is a human element involved, and there surely can exist a possibility of mistakes, given the spreadsheet process took place from midnight until 6 a.m. Wednesday.”
Lehighton votes
While the hand count showed minimal changes in vote totals, O’Gurek said a cursory review of the spreadsheet totals versus the scanned totals in the Dominion system resulted in the county identifying three changes of significance, particularly in a Lehighton Borough district where it was pointed out 358 votes were not counted in the clerk of courts race.
“For whatever reason, the wrong results were recorded on the spreadsheet, which showed only seven votes being cast in that race,” he said. “We found Fran Heaney received 178 votes, compared to 163 for Tyra Boni. There were two write-ins and 15 under votes. Those totals combined are exactly 358 votes that we initially thought were missing.”
In two other races, commissioner candidate Chris Lukasevich received 124 votes in Penn Forest’s Middle District, when the spreadsheet had him listed as receiving 12 and a judicial retention vote in Towamensing’s South district changed the yes vote from 4 to 74.
“I’ve said it before and will continue to say it, that when people enter data in the middle of the night, at 2, 3, 4 or 5 o’clock, you have to be certain it’s correct,” O’Gurek said. “Obviously, errors occur. That’s why we feel the need to hand count, so that at the end of the day, the public is sure that the numbers are correct.”
On Friday, a number of candidates in various races, as well as various residents, spoke out at the Carbon County Election Board’s meeting to begin the official canvassing that will allow the county to certify the vote.
At the end of the meeting and after much discussion, the board unanimously voted to do a complete hand count audit so that the county could look at each paper ballot to do another tabulation of all votes cast.
Carbon County has 20 days from the start of canvassing to finish the process and verify the votes of the election.
Comments
Why was the Poll Worker (a women) in Palmerton discussing politics during voting.
Why was the Poll Worker (a man) at Penn Forrest on 903 grabbing the Voter ballots and putting them in the scanner. My understanding is that the Voter is to scan their own ballot.
And now the Republicans want to file an objection to a hand count.
The chaos surrounding this event were followed by some emotional decisions. The board apparently failed to follow proper protocols and the established policy(s). The stories changed from the first meeting to the second, why? O'Gurek politely admitted his computer ignorance, this is notable and respected. However, I would think that would spark diligent study and the dedicated quest for understanding. No one expected the Commissioner to learn all the nuances of programming, but enough knowledge to ask the right questions could make all the difference.
Lisa Dart does a great job with what she is given. The management just needed to lead the process, follow policy and confirm things prior to deployment. The actions of a public servant. If O'Gurek lacked computer skills, he should pick up a book, or seek a second or third opinion. Unbiased tutors often volunteer for the benefit of the community. There are always many paths for success, and only a few that would lead to chaos.
Where was the Dominion representatives at these two meetings?
Why were they not there to field questions?
Why didn't the board seek and present a third party expert on such matters?
Government needs to be more of a humble public servant, and less trying to pretend to be a leader while on an unknown, untraveled path without a digital road map or the skills to read it.
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.