A mistake at the polling place in Sterling Township on Tuesday, April 23, resulted in 24 voters casting votes twice in the special election to fill former state Rep. Joe Adams’ unexpired term in the 139th District. Wayne County election officials said that the error, once discovered, was properly reported immediately to the county election office.
The special election was between Republican nominee Jeff Olsommer and Democratic nominee Robin Skibber. Although normally only Republicans and Democrats may vote in the spring primary in Pennsylvania, the special election was open to all registered voters regardless of party affiliation.
Olsommer, the ultimate unofficial winner in the special election, is a Sterling Township resident and chairs its board of supervisors.
The special election question was printed at the end of the one-sheet, regular paper ballot for Republicans and Democrats. A separate “unaffiliated” special election ballot sheet was available for other voters, who could participate only in the special election.
In this case, the first 24 voters who arrived at the Sterling Township offices were handed one of each ballot sheet.
Commissioner Jocelyn Cramer, chairperson of the Wayne County Board of Elections, said that each of the 24 voters filled in both ballot sheets and turned them in.
The constable, whose duty is to maintain order at the polls, noticed what was happening and said something. Cramer said that immediately, a manila envelope was inserted in the ballot box to separate this stack of 48 ballots. That way, voting was able to continue and the ballots in questions could be addressed later.
The error, which occurred in the first hour polls were open for in-person voting, was promptly reported to the county Bureau of Elections when it was discovered. Cramer said that the Pennsylvania Department of State was contacted for guidance.
County Commissioner Chairperson Brian Smith, Solicitor Wendell Kay and retired Bureau of Elections Director Cindy Furman retrieved the ballot box when polls closed.
Once the locked ballot box was delivered to the courthouse where votes were being counted, it was set aside and opened last. The Bureau of Elections, which includes Director Amy Christopher, the three commissioners and Kay, determined their belief of the intent of these 24 voters, and processed the 24 regular ballots containing the special election question, and disqualified the other 24 “unaffiliated” special election sheets.
Cramer said while it is a good question what would happen if the error had not been caught before polls closed and the ballots were processed, she declined to speculate on a hypothetical situation. She said their solicitor and the Department of State would have been consulted.
She said giving both ballots to each voter was unintentional. “It was covered in poll worker training,” she said, adding that mistakes happen. She noted that it occurred in the confusion of having a special election. “This was the first time they had had a special election in Wayne County that they could remember,” she said.
As to why voters, when handed a second ballot for the special election, filled it in, Cramer said that she believes people are generally trusting and thought they were supposed to get a second sheet.
She said that the township judge of elections felt “absolutely awful” about the incident, but she reassured him that the 24 proper ballots were accepted.
Kay said that these 24 voters were all Republicans or Democrats, and the votes cast were for either Olsommer or Skibber.
There are 1,062 registered voters in Sterling Township, Christopher reported. The turnout of 30.51%, or 324 voters each casting a ballot, was a bit better than the county average of 29.38%. The 24 voters made up 7.4% of the turnout.
Sterling voters, in the special election, cast 256 votes for Olsommer and 55 for Skibber.
Olsommer wins special election and Republican primary
Unofficial district-wide election results place Olsommer as the winner for the unexpired term.
Olsommer is also the nominee, according to the unofficial results, in the November general election facing Skibber, of Blooming Grove, Pike County, who ran unchallenged. District 139 includes parts of Wayne and Pike counties. Olsommer prevailed over Republican challenger Matthew Contreras of Matamoras.
The unofficial combined tallies were as follows.
Special election
-
Olsommer, 7,140 votes (Wayne, 3,172; Pike, 3,968)
-
Skibber, 4,696 votes (Wayne, 1,500; Pike, 3,196).
Republican primary
Olsommer, 4,975 votes (Wayne, 2,505; Pike, 2,470)
Contreras, 2,195 votes (Wayne, 559; Pike, 1,636)
Democratic primary
Skibber, 3,957 votes (Wayne, 1433; Pike, 2524)
Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Sterling Township voting error caught; 24 ballots disqualified