Click here for updates on this story
PITTSBURGH, PA (KDKA) — The Allegheny County Elections Division announced they will be mailing corrected ballots to county voters following a ballot image mapping error by the company responsible to handle printing the ballots.
The error resulted in 28,879 voters getting incorrect ballots. Voters will receive corrected ballots beginning the week of Oct. 19.
Retired Port Authority driver David Moffett received an incorrect ballot. Due to coronavirus fears this year, he decided to vote by mail. But when his ballot arrived, he immediately saw that something was amiss — the ballot is designated for McKeesport Ward 11, District 3.
KDKA’S Andy Sheehan: That’s not you.
Moffett: That’s not me. I live in Versailles. I live in Versailles Borough and we have no wards here. But we have District 1 and District 2. I’m in District 1.
On Oct. 9, the elections division was contacted by approximately 20 voters that received incorrect ballots. Once they learned of this error, they contacted Midwest Direct, the company responsible for mailing the ballots, to determine what went wrong. Due to what the company is calling a computer mapping error, the ballots were out of sync by a factor of one. Rather than going to the intended address, they went to the next one on the list.
The issue was corrected on Oct. 13 and correct ballots began printing.
“We want things to go as smoothly as we can. And when you have a glitch, but to their credit, they admitted it, they acknowledged it and they’re fixing it,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.
The corrected, re-issued ballots will be identified on the envelope that the voter receives. Additionally, the declaration envelope will also have identification on it to indicate that it is the envelope that should be used to return the corrected ballot.
If someone has already voted, the county says that vote will be discounted and they will get a new ballot to vote again.
As an additional security measure, voters who are included in this batch of ballots will not be able to have a new ballot issued except through this mailing until Oct. 26. Voters who have not received their corrected ballot by Oct. 26 may go to the downtown office of the elections division, or contact the office, for a reissuance.
“And with 20 days to go, we have enough time to send the ballots out,” Fitzgerald said. “They’ll get their ballots next week with two weeks go, and they’ll still have plenty of time to put them in the mail,” Fitzgerald said.
Still, Moffett is anxious.
“I want it to count. I want to vote, and I’m naturally concerned it’s coming out wrong,” Moffett said.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.