Human error is being blamed for a batch of mail-in voter ballots that were printed and sent twice to 350 Lebanon County voters.
According to a press release Monday from the Lebanon County Board of Elections, the office discovered the error after the ballots were printed and mailed out on Wednesday, April 17. According to their records, the release says, those same 350 voters were previously sent ballots on April 13.
In fact, according to the statement from Sean Drasher, the county’s chief clerk of voter registration, some of the first batch of ballots have already been filled out and returned. That automatically renders the duplicates void, he said.
The duplicate ballots have identical serial numbers and barcodes, the press release explained, and so cannot be processed and counted more than once.
“Human error is still a potential, in elections, but the identifying barcodes and serial numbers are the failsafe that guarantee one voter, one vote,” Drasher said in the release. “We will be reviewing our processes, for future elections, to prevent the possibility of human error in sending a duplicate batch to printing.”
Polls for the 2024 spring primary will be open from 7 a.m to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23. A drop-off point outside the Lebanon County Courthouse, where mail-in ballots can be returned, will be open during the same hours.
Keep in mind, under state law, voters must return their own ballots. Voters with a disability who have designated someone in writing to deliver their ballot are the only exception.
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