A mail-in ballot error means Sullivan County will count more votes for school director than expected on primary election day.
The county elections office mistakenly sent 284 mail-in ballots that instructed people to vote for no more than five candidates for school board but only four school board seats are up for election, according to a notice on its website.
“It was human error,” County Commissioner Brian Hoffman said Monday. “People do make mistakes, but we certainly don't take it lightly.”
Election officials discovered the error Tuesday. County solicitor Ken Levitsky, also the Board of Elections solicitor, said it’s too late to mail new ballots, so the county came up with a solution.
Officials will segregate the mistaken ballots and hand-count votes.
If a voter cast votes for five candidates, all five votes will count, Levitsky said. All the votes will be added in after all other ballots are counted, he said.
“Everybody’s vote will be counted,” Levitsky said. “I think it is the fairest way because you’re counting every vote.”
The error could matter less on Democratic ballots, which list only four candidates, though someone could cast a write-in vote for a fifth candidate.
The Republican ballot has six candidates.
Efforts to reach the candidates were not immediately successful.
The county corrected the error on all ballots mailed after Tuesday, according to the website.
All ballots at in-person voting machines will have accurate ballots, the county said.
“The 284 affected mail-in ballots will still be counted. No action is required from voters who received them,” the website says.
“The Board of Elections remains fully committed to the integrity, transparency, and security of our elections,” the county said in a statement on the website. “We have implemented protocols to ensure that every vote is accurately recorded, and every voter is informed. Voter confidence is essential, and we will continue to communicate proactively and respond swiftly to any issues that arise.”
Anyone with question should contact elections director Jennifer Spako at 570-946-5201 or jspako@sullivancountypa.gov.
The county has 4,391 registered voters, according to state Department of State data. Only the 2,794 Republicans and 1,082 Democrats registered are eligible to vote in the primary Tuesday.
