Watch CBS News

Allegheny Co. Elections Division: Printing Error Leads To Voter Barcode Being On Wrong Envelope For 0.08% Returned Ballots

By: KDKA-TV News Staff

ALLEGHENY COUNTY (KDKA) -- The Allegheny County Elections Division is urging people who are using a mail-in ballot to report if they see any errors.

This comes after the Elections Division discovered that a "vendor calibration issue" led to the barcode, which tracks a voter's ballot and verifies that they voted in an election, being printed on the secrecy envelope instead of the declaration envelope for some voters.

So far, the issue has only been found in 30 of 36,000 returned ballots, or 0.08% of returned ballots, as of around 10 a.m. Thursday morning.

Allegheny County officials say they were alerted to the issue after a voter approached the Elections Division who noticed the barcode had been incorrectly printed on the secrecy envelope.

"The vendor, NPC Inc. of Claysburg, PA, advised that the ballot packet is collated by a machine. As part of that process, the barcode is printed on the outside of the declaration envelope," Allegheny County officials said in a statement. "In the identified instances, a calibration issue resulted in the barcode being printed on the outside of the secrecy envelope instead. Accordingly, the Law Department and the Board of Elections solicitor are currently preparing to pursue legal remedies to ensure these votes count while at the same time preserving the privacy of the voter."

The county is looking at "legal remedies" to ensure the ballots of the voters who are impacted by this error are counted.

The barcode has 9-digit number and the voter's name and is specifically printed for this election.

If you have not returned your ballot yet and notice this issue, you are asked to contact Elections Division via phone at 412-350-4500 or email at electionscontact@alleghenycounty.us, or in-person (6th floor County Office Building, 542 Forbes Avenue) to receive a replacement secrecy envelope.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.