Counting Complete For All Mercer County Election Day In-Person Ballots: Officials

EAST WINDSOR, NJ – After the counting was delayed due to issues with voting machines, all election day in-person ballots have now been counted, the Superintendent of Elections said Tuesday.

On Nov. 8, issues with voting machine scanners were reported across the County, and residents had to resort to manual balloting. More: Voting Machine Issues Reported In Mercer Co. On Election Day: Clerk

Officials had told Patch in most cases results may be delayed, as election workers were manually counting votes. More: Vote Tally May Be Delayed In Mercer County: Officials

Moreover, ballots were reported missing from Princeton and Robbinsville. Officials had to go to court for permission to open storage compartments of voting machines to determine if any ballots were left behind. This further delayed the ballot count. More: Ballots Go Missing In Mercer County, Officials Go To Court

“The Office of the Mercer County Superintendent of Elections will continue to work through this process to ensure that all votes cast are counted,” Nathaniel Walker, Superintendent of Elections said in a media statement. “We remain committed to ensuring the integrity of our elections.”

All 199 scanning tabulating machines that were distributed to polling stations have been “retrieved and secured,” officials said.

The Board of Elections is now counting remaining provisional ballots ahead of the Nov. 21 certification deadline, Walker said. Around 5,237 provisional ballots are being reviewed. The 700 emergency ballots will be counted within the next 24 hours.

“Our goal is for the bipartisan Board of Elections Commissioners to adjudicate and count the remaining provisional ballots prior to the November 21 candidate’s certification deadline,” Walker said.

“I wish to thank the hardworking employees of the Board of Elections for their time and attention devoted to the task of retrieving voting machines in a small timeframe and making sure every ballot was properly counted.”

In East Windsor, 395 provisional ballots remain to be counted.

Here’s how many provisional ballots remain to be counted in Mercer County:

Meanwhile, Mercer County Board of County Commissioners have asked election officials and vendors to appear before them on Nov. 21., to determine what went wrong on election day. More: Election Officials Asked To Appear Before Mercer County Commissioners

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