Poll worker mistakenly gave voters two ballots

A mistake at a polling place in Fayette County allowed 175 people to double-vote this morning in the special election for the Pennsylvania 12th Congressional district.

Amber Lilley, judge of elections at the North Union Township fourth precinct, said she mistakenly thought she was supposed to give out two ballots to each individual in her precinct during today’s election because the election served as both a primary election and a special election to fill the Congressional seat vacated by the death of John Murtha.

“There were paper ballots, and there were ballots just for the independent voters for the special election, and my understanding, which was mistaken, was that those were special ballots for the special election,” she said.

Ms. Lilley said she eventually realized her mistake, but by then 178 people had already voted. Of that total, 120 were Republicans, 55 were Democrats, and three were Independents.

Because of her mistake, the 175 Republicans and Democrats were able to vote twice, once on their full ballot that included the primary and special election, and once on the special election ballot that was supposed to be used only for independent voters.

After realizing she had made a mistake, Ms. Lilley contacted Larry Blosser, the director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, who told her to secure all the ballots that had been cast and re-set the electronic voting machines.

“We’ve secured the ballots that were voted on the e-scan machine,” said Sheryl Heid, election bureau solicitor for Fayette County. “We’re going to hold them separately and the election board will hold a meeting to decide what to do with them.”

Ms. Lilley said she was elected to the position of election supervisor in November and was not even aware she had won the election until February. Though she took responsibility for the mix-up, she said her training consisted of little more than watching some videos and basic directions from the state Election Commission.

Ms. Lilley is registered as a Democrat, but a Republican poll watcher was also present at the location throughout the day. Ms. Lilley said the poll watcher also misunderstood the directions on the ballot.

The special election in the 12th Congressional district is between Democrat Mark Critz, Republican Tim Burns, and Libertarian Demo Agoris.