Politics & Government

'Pleased There Was No Intentional Criminal Action': Mercer Clerk Praises Election Probe

The County Clerk had requested the Prosecutor's office to investigate Election Day issues in Mercer County.

(Renee Schiavone/Patch)

MERCER COUNTY, NJ – Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello said she was glad there was no “intentional criminal action” related to the Nov. 8 General Election.

Her statement comes following the conclusion of Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri’s investigation into the recent Election Day scanner failure.

Onofri’s investigation concluded that there was no vote tampering or criminal intent in the recently concluded election.

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Election Day failures pointed to miscommunication between Dominion Voting System and ballot printers, according to Onofri’s investigation.

The County Clerk had earlier requested the Prosecutor’s office to investigate whether problems during Election Day were an error or intentionally done.

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“I am pleased there was no intentional criminal action that created this problem. Election integrity is something I have worked hard to ensure and have taken great pride in over the past 17 years serving as Mercer County Clerk," Sollami Covello said in a media statement Wednesday.

Sollami Covello also praised the Board of Elections Commissioners for handling the ballot scanning process on Election Day and beyond, which was completed on time and certified to the County Clerk’s office within the timeline of Nov. 21.

She also thanked the Office of the Superintendent of Elections for their work on reviewing the provisional ballots in a timely manner.

The County Clerk’s certification of the general election has concluded ahead of the State deadline of November 26.

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