Several Investigations Underway After Some Ballots Were Rejected In Fayette County
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (KDKA) - There are multiple investigations underway after ballot issues in Fayette County. Commissioners said some ballots were being rejected at all 77 precincts in the county, which prompted them to launch an internal investigation.
"We are going to have to make some serious changes in the way we conduct our elections in Fayette County moving forward," said Fayette County Commissioner Scott Dunn.
Dunn said why ballots were rejected is still unclear.
"At this point, we know the issue is printing the ballots. As to who is responsible, we don't know that and it's being investigated as we speak," said Dunn.
What commissioners do know is that some ballots were missing barcodes. The ones that didn't work had to be placed in an emergency slot. Most were hand-counted Tuesday night and again Wednesday after an emergency petition was filed in the courts.
Meantime, some local lawmakers filed a right-to-know request asking for more.
"From what I understand, the wrong file was printed and I want to find out," said Pennsylvania State Senator Pat Stefano.
District Attorney Richard Bower said what happened is unacceptable, so he's taking matters into his own hands.
"We are going to be looking at that whole scenario that has been going on because the fact that we already had one election last year that had some voter fraud, so we want to see why this happened," said Bower.
Bower said he's also looking into what he believes could be a separate election law violation, but that's all he could say at this time.
Meantime, commissioners say the official ballot count starts Friday and will be open to the public.