Cambria vote malfunction spurs hand count
EBENSBURG — Thousands of votes were counted by hand Tuesday night at the Cambria County Courthouse after county officials were alerted by several precincts that ballots were not being accepted by voting machines.
Initially believed to be a software malfunction, the ballots were not being accepted due to a printing issue, president Commissioner Scott Hunt said during a press conference held at 5:30 p.m. in the courthouse. The commissioners held the press conference to clarify misinformation and to assure residents that every vote would be counted correctly, accurately and securely, he said.
At 7:30 a.m., county officials became aware of ballots not being accepted and informed poll workers to secure the ballots in designated boxes at each precinct, Hunt said. Still within the morning hours, officials learned the ballots were not printed correctly and implemented an emergency protocol to collect the ballots from each precinct, he said.
A court order was later granted to extend polling place hours in Cambria County to 10 p.m., county solicitor Ron Repak said, noting ballots cast between 8 and 10 p.m. were classified as provisional ballots.
The county later sent sheriff deputies to the William Penn Printing Co. of Pittsburgh to order, test and distribute corrected ballots to precincts, Hunt said.
Repak said only the misprinted ballots from Tuesday morning were collected and counted at the courthouse, with representatives from both political parties on hand to ensure voter integrity.
"We've taken every step possible to ensure that every vote is going to be counted here today," Repak said.
When pressed for further information, Repak declined to speculate on how many ballots were collected and how many blank ballots were ordered and distributed, noting he did not want to give an inaccurate number, which is "certainly ... in the thousands," he said.
Reading from a prepared statement, Hunt said county officials worked tirelessly "to ensure that every voice is heard and that the foundation of our republic and the right to vote is preserved."
Several county residents, like Diane Griak of Elder Township, reached out to the Mirror to voice frustrations about their voting experiences.
Griak said she was "disgusted" when she voted at 7:45 a.m. and was told the county's electronic voting system was not working properly.
Since Pennsylvania was a "key swing state" in the election, Griak said she was left feeling frustrated, concerned about whether her vote would be counted.
"It's discouraging as a voter in Cambria County," Griak said. "I wanted to leave there to know that my vote counted when I left. I have no idea now if my vote is even going to matter."
At the press conference, Repak and the county commissioners — joined by Cambria County chief clerk Alex Ashcom, elections director Maryann Dillon and information technology director Brett Summers — assured that every vote would be counted securely, even if it takes all night to complete.
Repak said county officials have "gone above and beyond" to ensure that election integrity is a priority. He said the county had "all hands on deck" to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.
"We're taking this very seriously, and if we weren't, we wouldn't have taken such measures to ensure that everyone has been involved," Repak said, adding the Pennsylvania Department of State, the attorney general's office and local government officials were notified.
"We made sure to talk to everyone so that all hands are on deck because in our opinion the more people that we make aware, the more transparent that we are," Repak said.
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.
