Independent and unaffiliated voters were left off Chester County’s poll books in November’s election due to human error exacerbated by insufficient training, poor oversight and staffing challenges in the county office, an independent firm has concluded.
In November, more than 12,000 Chester County voters were forced to vote by provisional ballot after the county included just registered Democrats and Republicans in the poll books for the general election. Every voter who wanted to was able to cast a ballot, county officials said, but it resulted in a chaotic scene and the county had to issue an unusually high number of provisional ballots — which require more steps to cast and count.
On Thursday, the county released a 24-page report from a West Chester law firm detailing how the county failed to include more than 75,000 registered voters in its general election poll books, and evaluating the state and county’s response as it scrambled to ensure those voters could cast ballots.
“Importantly, our investigation found no evidence of intentional wrongdoing, misconduct, or bad faith on the part of any of the employees who generated the Poll Books. The error was inadvertent and occurred in the course of performing assigned duties under significant time constraints,” the report, prepared by Fleck, Eckert, Klein and McGarry LLC, said.
“Though the initial selection constituted a human error, the investigation found that the error occurred within a system lacking in: (i) sufficient safeguards, (ii) training, (iii) sufficient supervision, and; (iv) verification controls,” investigators added.
What’s next in Chester County?
The firm’s report detailed more than a dozen recommended steps for the county and Department of State to take to prevent future errors.
In an action plan released Thursday, Chester County officials said they intend to abide by the vast majority of those recommendations, as well as additional steps identified by the county’s Chief Experience Officer.
Chester County Chief Executive Officer David Byerman said in a statement that the recommendations would be completed within a year, with the most critical steps coming ahead of May’s primary election.
The action plan included improved training and more strenuous review processes, reevaluation of Voter Services staff levels and pay, and a review of human resources policies in the department. It did not include personnel changes within its Voter Services Department.
The 25-person department has faced unusually high turnover among staff in recent years, losing 29 employees to resignations, firings and transfers since the current director, Karen Barsoum, took over in 2021.
Barsoum has faced allegations of fostering a toxic work environment, which Thursday’s report acknowledged. However, the firm concluded that those complaints were not connected to the poll book error and said in its report that employees directly connected to the poll book blunder spoke positively about department management.
“Moreover, the various causes of the Poll Book issue that we have identified do not appear to have any causal nexus with the types of concerns raised,” the report said.
How did the error happen?
According to the report, two employees inadvertently chose the wrong selection of Chester County voters when they used the statewide voter roll software to create November’s poll books. Those employees, the report said, were inexperienced and had never been formally trained on the system they were using. While the employees had a copy of written training materials from the Department of State, the report noted that they worked with “little direct supervision” for their level of experience.
After the wrong set of voters were chosen — leaving off third party and unaffiliated voters — the report said no one in the department checked the books until a poll worker noticed the problem shortly before polls opened on Election Day.
The report noted the department’s high turnover, which it said could be the result of the high-pressure environment of election-related work and Chester County’s low pay compared to surrounding counties. That turnover, the report said, created “increased operational risk” which contributed to the error.
Following the incident, the county said it will review staffing and pay levels for the office as well as its human resources policies.
“We know that working in elections is an extremely difficult job – one that involves long hours and many personal sacrifices,” Byerman said. “We are truly grateful for the commitment and dedication of the staff in Voter Services, and want to ensure that we are doing everything we can to provide the resources, tools, and support they need to be successful in their roles.”
The department, the county’s action plan said, will also establish additional approval checks for poll books and other procedures that impact all Chester County voters.
County officials also said they intend to improve training for the department, including working with the Pennsylvania Department of State to implement formal training on the state’s voter roll system.
“The Department always stands ready to assist counties with training of employees on the [Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors] system and other aspects of election administration and is happy to engage Chester further to improve its training process,” the Pennsylvania Department of State said in a statement.
The agency added that its ongoing effort to modernize the statewide voter roll system will include checks and alerts for unusual poll book configurations once completed.
Chester County is scheduled to hold a public meeting Tuesday evening to present its plan to the public. If the forecasted winter storm closes county offices that day, the meeting will be postponed to Feb. 3.
