Vote Discrepancies Discovered In Chesco Election

West Chester PA

08 November, 2021

4:53 PM

Description

CHESTER COUNTY, PA —Leaders from both political parties in Chester County expressed their support for a vote reconciliation process, which took place over the weekend, and for the continued counting of votes on Monday by Chester County Voter Services (CCVS). The parties have stressed that the issue —which reportedly involves a discrepancy between the number of ballots received and number of ballots counted in last Tuesday's election — is bipartisan and that both parties are involved in finding a solution. CCVS, which is responsible for conducting elections, did not respond to requests for comment. The Chester County Democratic Committee said the issue arose during vote counting last week, when the discovery of a vote discrepancy led to the immediate suspension of ballot counting on Friday. According to Charlotte Valyo, chair of the Chester County Democratic Committee, the problems were reported openly to both parties, and both agreed to the vote reconciliation taking place over the weekend, despite the absence of observers. Once complete, vote counting was expected to continue Monday, Valyo said, with both Democratic and Republican solicitors involved in that process. Both parties also were expected to have observers in the room during the counting. "We applaud the fact that all of this has been done in an open, bipartisan environment that provides the confidence to everyone that our democracy has again functioned as it should – in the open and with the goal of counting every eligible vote," Valyo said in a statement. Meanwhile, Dr. Gordon Eck, chairman of the Republican Committee of Chester County said "significant problems have been uncovered at Voter Services." He said the discrepancies were "not minor glitches, but major issues that threaten the very integrity of the election." Eck said said his committee is working with council from the highest levels, and that "every option is on the table." However, Eck stressed the issue was not a partisan issue. "Our goal is not to change the outcome of the election, but to guarantee that every legitimate vote cast in Chester County, regardless of party affiliation, will not be lost, stolen, diluted, or rejected through either intentional maleficence or administrative mistakes," Eck said in a statement. In her statement about the vote reconciliation, Valyo also celebrated the successes that local Democrats had in county, school board and township elections, and hinted that she did not expect election outcomes to change as a result of this week's vote counting. "This (Democratic success) was done against a national trend that often went in the opposite direction," Valyo said. "Chester County remained strong. I believe we will have more successes as the ballot counting and reporting continues." Eck thanked Republicans for their patience, and said his committee would keep voters updated while vote counting continued. He said Republicans were committed to seeing the process through. "(We) commit to you that we will not back down from doing what is right in order to preserve and protect our democratic process," Eck said.