Vote Count Remains Underway In Chester County

WEST CHESTER, PA — Chester County’s Department of Voter Services reported Moday that the vote count is nearing completion, with only provisional, military, and overseas citizens' ballots still being counted.

Chester County Director of Voter Services Karen Barsoum said the computation process is running smoothly following many months of preparation.

"I could not be prouder of our staff as well as all the poll workers and judges of election,” Barsoum said. "We prepared for this election for many months to ensure every citizen in our county not only knew their vote would be properly counted but that the election was secure.”

Tuesday, May 24, is the deadline to complete the count of the provisional ballots.

A provisional ballot is a paper ballot that is used when an individual is not listed on the approved voter list. The votes are then put on hold for review by the county board of elections.

These are some of the reasons for voters signing provisional ballots:

• Voters has relocated and not registered in the new location.
• Forgot to bring an ID to the polls.
• Voted in person when previously asked for an absentee ballot.
• Forgot to bring an absentee ballot to the polls.

Within seven days, the county board of elections will then determine if the vote will count.

Any mail-in ballots that were deemed questionable, meaning Voter Services staff were unsure if they should be counted, were placed on legal hold and reviewed.

Barsoum said the office received positive feedback on the voting process.

"We will continue to use these same updated procedures in November because they worked so well,” she said.

Nearly 32%, or 119,481 of the 374,833 registered voted cast ballots in the primary. Of those, 34,380 voted by mail and 85,092 voted in person. There were also 34,871 absentee and provisional ballots signed.

The Republican race for the U.S. Congressional 6th District was the most heated local race.

Guy Ciarrocchi emerged as the winner and will face Democratic incumbent Chrissy Houlahan in the November election.

The returns are avaiable here.