State sends wrong files leaving some Fayette voters unable to check in at polls
Issue does not extend to those who were able to cast a ballot
Fayette County voters who changed the way they cast a ballot from last year to this year found themselves unable to check in at the polls this morning.
Fayette County Commissioner Scott Dunn said the Pennsylvania Department of State transferred the 2024 voter files to be downloaded to the electronic polling pads used to check voters in.
That meant voters who switched from a mail-in ballot to in-person voting were told they’d already cast a ballot.
Dunn learned that when he tried to check in at his Dunbar polling place around 7:30 a.m., and the electronic polling pad indicated he’d already voted by mail. He said he immediately contacted the county’s election bureau, and workers there contacted state election officials, who discovered the incorrect files were transferred to the county election bureau.
By 10 a.m., workers at all 77 of the county’s precincts had been notified of the error and were instructed to move to the paper backups to check in voters. Dunn said the backups act as a failsafe so that voters can still check in at the polls should there be a power outage or some other event that precludes them from using the electronic polling pads.
Those unable to vote because of the error can return to the polls to do so by 8 p.m., when voting ends. Those who chose to fill out a provisional ballot, like Dunn did, will have their vote counted.
Dunn stressed this problem only affected checking in to vote.
“If you successfully checked in and voted, your vote counts,” he said.
It was not immediately clear how many voters were impacted.