Westmoreland County Officials Scrambling To Correct Mail-In Ballot Mistake
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. (KDKA) -- A mistake by the Westmoreland County Board of Elections has county officials scrambling to get corrected mail-in ballots out before next week's primary election.
According to county commissioners, a race for a district magistrate's office was never placed on the ballot. Officials say voters who got the bad ballots will have corrected ones in their hands soon.
"In Mt. Pleasant, there were four precincts where the magistrate's race was left off," said Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher
The elections board said residents in those precincts got mail-in ballots missing the candidates for the district magistrate's office presently held by retiring Justice Michael Mahady. The precincts include Ridgeview, Mammoth, United and Westmoreland Homestead.
"One-hundred-eighty-nine individuals got an incomplete ballot," Cerilli Thrasher said.
The candidates missing from the ballot were Rebecca Salandro and Tamara Mahady, the daughter of the retiring judge.
"We take full ownership, and that's obviously a major error on our part," said Commissioner Sean Kertes.
To that end, the county printed corrected ballots with the contested magistrate race front and center.
"We're doing everything in our power to let the public know and the candidates know and be as transparent as possible. That's what we can do," said Kertes.
The commissioners say only use the corrected ballot. If you have an incomplete ballot, destroy it.
A dropbox for the ballots will be located at Mammouth Park on Saturday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
