Elections Judge Aims To Hand Count Ballots In PA County, Against Procedures

Update, 6:20 p.m.

A Pennsylvania judge has ordered the man in charge of elections in a southwestern Pennsylvania town to comply with the procedures laid out by the county board of elections. The man must submit ballots for automatic tabulation and not hand count them, and if he does not comply willingly, a sheriff's deputy will be dispatched to enforce the order.

Original story:

FAYETTE COUNTY, PA — A county elections board in southwestern Pennsylvania says that the election judge in one of their townships plans to individually hand count presidential ballots himself, against established legal procedures, potentially causing a significant delay in certifying the election.

Fayette County filed a petition in the Court of Common Pleas to prevent the man, Vincent Manetta of Washington Township, from performing the hand-counts.

The county has a specific procedure for counting ballots, which involves allowing the automated tabulating equipment to perform the full count, printing out a tape showing the results, and returning it to the county elections board.

Manetta was informed that the county was not okay with him hand counting, and he said he planned on doing it anyway.

"If no court action is taken regarding this petition, the return of the ballots and election materials would be delayed by numerous hours," Marybeth Kuznik, the director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, wrote in the petition.

Kuznik asked the court to order Manetta to comply with the law, and if he still refused, asked for a Fayette County sheriff to escort poll workers to Washington Township to ensure the ballots were tabulated properly.

The Court of Common Pleas is expected to respond to the petition shortly.