Nearly 2,200 emergency paper ballots cast in Northampton County when voting machines weren’t used
Results of countywide races won’t be affected but municipal, school elections could
Northampton County voters in Tuesday’s election filled out 2,155 emergency paper ballots when voting machines were not used for a couple of hours, the county said Thursday in a press release.
The county counted those emergency ballots Thursday and will count an additional 235 provisional ballots next week.
There weren’t enough of the ballots to change outcomes of county races – where Democrats Brian Panella (judge) and Tara Zrinski (controller) each led their opponents by about 6,000 votes. The leads of county commissioner regional candidates, Democrats Ken Kraft (District I) and Jeff Warren (District III), were also insurmountable.
Northampton County Democrats appear to sweep key contests in Tuesday’s election
However, results of borough, municipal and school board races, with much smaller differences in vote totals, could change.
Shortly after the polls opened Tuesday, election workers discovered that voting machines switched votes – marked as “yes” or “no” – on a printout of voters’ selections in only two contests: Superior Court retention questions for two judges – President Judge Jack Panella (a former Northampton County judge) and Judge Victor P. Stabile.
After discovering votes were recorded properly on the computer storage of voting machines, county officials allowed voters to resume using them, around 9:15 a.m.
In the meantime, voters at the county’s 156 precincts filled out 2,155 emergency ballots; they also completed 235 provisional ballots. That’s an average of about 15 ballots per precinct.
County Executive Lamont McClure said Thursday afternoon that the county counted the emergency ballots by scanning them into tabulating units. The county updated results on its election website, www.Northamptonvotes.com, at 4:36 p.m.
But the provisional ballots need to be reviewed individually before being counted; with county offices closed Friday for observing Veterans Day, that won't happen until next week, McClure said.