Amid widespread confusion across the county, Chester County Voter Services this morning admitted they sent the wrong polling books to every polling place in the county.
Instead of the books for a general election — which include every registered voter in the precinct — Voter Services instead sent out the primary poll books, which only included those voters eligible to vote in some party’s primary. That means that any independents who arrived at the polling places in Chester were told their names were not on file, even those who had been registered there for years.
“Chester County Voter Services is working to get supplemental poll books to every polling place. Until that time, any registered voter who is not listed in the pollbook can vote provisionally,” county officials said on social media this morning. Philly Daily has confirmed the chaotic situation by statements from voters in the county.
Provisional ballots, a feature of the Help America Vote Act, are used in those rare instances when a voter's name is mistakenly absent from the pollbook. The voter then fills out the provisional ballot, and has his eligibility assessed after the fact, ensuring that mistakes like this do not disenfranchise people who should be able to vote.
One impacted voter at the West Chester Borough Precinct 6 told Beth Ann Rosica of Broad + Liberty that for those who don’t have time to wait, they might just leave and not bother voting.
Chester County Commissioner Eric Roe (R) told Rosica he was committed to a comprehensive review of the situation.
“Independent and unaffiliated voters should never have to feel like second class citizens,” said Roe in response to a request for comment. “We will do a top-to-bottom review of how this occurred and make sure a mistake like this never happens again. We will also be meticulously going over each provisional ballot cast in this election to ensure that all valid votes are counted.”
Democratic Commissioner Josh Maxwell said that "General Election poll books were printed without third party voters. How this happened will be looked into immediately after the election is over. In the meantime, each poll is stocked with provisional ballots so every registered voter in Chester County can still vote when they walk into vote. The team has printed supplemental poll books which will be delivered by park rangers. They should get to the polls by noon, after which, all registered voters will vote normally and not provisionally."
Democratic Commissioner Marian Moscowitz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chester County Democratic Committee Chair Charlotte Valyo said, “the Chester County Democratic Committee is aware and concerned about the problem with the voter roll books. Making sure every eligible voter can vote is of the utmost importance. No one should be turned away. Voters whose names do not appear on the roll book may vote provisionally. We support that approach until updated roll books are provided.”
Chester County Republican Committee Chair Raffi Terzian said, “this is outrageous, unacceptable and disenfranchises voters. To make matters worse, precincts are receiving inconsistent guidance on voting procedures. This should never happen in a county of our size and is a clear sign of widespread dysfunction and mismanagement.”
The incident is not the first time that Chester County government has mishandled voting. Earlier this year, county officials mistakenly failed to include the race for prothonotary on the primary ballot following the resignation of incumbent Debbie Bookman after a scandal.
“A mistake was made,” Chester County Democratic Chairwoman Charlotte Valyo told Delaware Valley Journal’s Linda Stein at the time.
Reaction to the “mistake” was not so genteel among Chester County Republicans, some of whom blamed the incompetence on the new Director of Voter Services, Karen Barosum, who was hired in 2021 after Democrats won a majority on the county commission. Following Barsoum’s appointment, there was a massive turnover in the staff at voter services, with many experienced county workers departing.
This story is developing and will be updated throughout the day as more information becomes available.
