Election group confident in Erie County officials after vendor's ballot mailing mistake

"Not every mistake is nefarious."

That's the message the Democracy Defense Project, which includes former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and former Republican U.S. Reps. Jim Gerlach and Melissa Hart, is telling voters concerned about a printing mishap that led to nearly 300 Erie County voters being mailed both their own mail ballot, and the mail ballot of another voter.

“We were concerned to learn that nearly 300 Erie County voters received duplicate mail-in ballots," the group said in a statement Thursday. "This is an issue that must be corrected quickly, and we are confident that the Erie County Board of Elections is doing just that.

"It's important to remember that not every mistake is nefarious and at the end of the day, we are all humans," the statement continues. "We urge voters to be patient and take the time to collect all of the facts and allow the board of elections to adequately address this issue and ensure that it does not happen again."

The statement from the Democracy Defense Project, which "works to defend the transparency, safety, security, and validity of Pennsylvania’s elections system," comes as the Erie County Board of Elections tries to track down voters who received the duplicate ballots.

It also comes as right-wing political operatives are zeroing in on the bellwether county in the key battleground state by making false claims of election fraud. One of those bogus claims this week targeted the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, a group of 53 nuns who reside at Mount Saint Benedict Monastery in Harborcreek Township.

"We’re 12 days out from the election and we won’t be distracted by any of it," said Board of Elections chairman Andre Horton, a Democratic member of Erie County Council, during a board meeting Thursday night. "There’s really nothing to see here. The only thing that we’re focused on is making sure that our poll workers, our judges of elections are all in a position to be successful on Election Night and that we provide that fair and impartial election."

Affected voters being contacted

The Erie County Board of Elections and Voter Registration Office were notified Oct. 18 that a voter had received two ballots, one that correctly corresponded with their voting precinct and included a return envelope with their name and address, and a second ballot with a return envelope with another voter's name and address. Both voters have received their ballots, but duplicate ballots were made for one voter and mailed to another.

The problem was traced back to the Akron, Ohio-based mail house that Erie County uses for the printing and mailing of large batches of mail ballots, which have exceeded 39,000 requests for the Nov. 5 general election. ElectionIQ's addressing software failed and when the system restarted duplicate ballots were printed and inserted into the wrong envelopes, according to Erie County Clerk Karen Chillcott, who oversees the Voter Registration Office.

Some Erie County voters received multiple ballots. How election officials are handling it

Chillcott on Thursday said more than 100 voters who received the additional ballot had been contacted by election workers so far. The affected voters will be sent a letter with a return envelope with prepaid postage that they should use to return the incorrect ballots to the Voter Registration Office. ElectionIQ is paying the postage for those letters and return envelopes, she said.

Additionally, the county's ballot sorting machines have been programmed to segregate the ballots in question so they can be reviewed and counted manually. Any voter who casts more than one vote will be referred to the Erie County District Attorney's Office to be investigated and potentially prosecuted.

The Board of Elections signed a contract with ElectionIQ on March 10, 2023. The contract stipulates that the county will pay ElectionIQ $95,080 for primary elections and $103,040 for general elections, including those held in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The prices include the printing and mailing of 40,000 mail ballots and the printing of 100,000 ballots for in-person voting on election day.

Horton said Thursday evening that "whether it's one ballot, or 296 ballots in this case," the board's priority is to assure voters that all legally cast votes will be counted.

"We're not perfect in our operations, but we strive to be perfect in our transparency," Horton said. "And you can be assured that every single vote cast legally will be counted in Erie County in a fair and impartial way. There's nothing to see here."

In its statement Thursday morning, the Democracy Defense Project commended the Board of Elections and the Voter Registration Office, calling them "apolitical professionals" who "carefully and constantly review and improve their processes.”

Erie Times-News staff writer A.J. Rao contributed to this report.

Matthew Rink can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @ETNRink. 

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Election group: Erie County ballot mistake 'must be corrected quickly'