Tredyffrin Democrats Raise Concerns About Special Election Vote Count

Nine days after the May 17th special election for an large seat on the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors, the outcome may not be settled as far as Tredyffrin Townships Democrats are concerned.

The vote counting process in this election has not been routine and both Republicans and Democrats have raised serious questions about the vote tabulation since the morning after the election.

Republican incumbent Mike Heaberg was first to raise questions on May 18th when the initial, unofficial vote count gave Democrat Molly Duffy a 40 vote lead in the race.

A hand count of ballots, witnessed  by the candidates, attorneys and representatives of both political parties, revealed 61 votes that had not been counted immediately after the election.  According to both sides, the hand count by Chester County Voter Services officials on Monday, May 23rd  gave Heaberg 52 of the previously uncounted votes and Duffy 9.

The result of Monday's official hand count reversed the outcome of the first, unofficial count on May 17th  and gave Heaberg a three vote lead over Duffy.  That result must still be certified by a three judge panel within 30 days of the election.

One day after the official hand count Mike Heaberg declared victory in a statement emailed to Patch and other news media.

On Thursday Tredyffrin Township Democrats issued a statement thanking Molly Duffy's supporters and raising concerns about problems with how votes have been tabulated and accounted for in Chester County.

The press release reads as follows:

Tredyffrin Democrats Believe Questions Remain Surrounding Special Election

"A complete manual count of ballots by Chester County’s Voter Services has produced a new numerical result in the special election of Tredyffrin Township supervisor, but the Township’s Democratic Committee believes questions remain.

"Despite initial election results on May 17th showing Molly Duffy the winner of Tredyffrin’s special election, problems with ballot scanners called into question the accuracy of the vote counts. Voter Services moved directly to a manual count of all paper ballots on Monday, May 23, witnessed by representatives of both candidates.  The hand count showed a three vote lead for candidate Mike Heaburg, reversing Duffy’s 40 vote lead on election night. A total of 61 additional ballots were counted by Voter Services.  While the overall vote split almost 50% to 50% between Heaburg and Duffy, the 61 additional ballots split 85% (52) for Heaburg and 15% (9) for Duffy.

"A number of questions remain unanswered. Voter Services has assured us they will perform all necessary reconciliations, including a reconciliation of the number of ballots delivered to Voter Services and the record of voters who signed in at each precinct.  Voter Services has acknowledged discrepancies in over 100 other precincts in Chester County, so this is not a unique Tredyffrin problem. But one has to wonder if the discrepancies have only come to light and are being addressed because of the narrow margin in our election.

"Tredyffrin voters need a plausible explanation of how 61 votes could have gone unreported Tuesday night. People in Tredyffrin and the entire County need to have confidence that when they cast a ballot, it will be counted properly. We will wait until Voter Services certifies the vote before stating a firm opinion as to the outcome.  We are thankful our voting system provides a paper trail to ensure that these discrepancies can be resolved properly.

 "In the meantime, we want to thank all of Molly Duffy’s supporters for their hard work and their votes.  We are very proud of Molly’s efforts and remain gratified she was able to inject substantial issues like business revitalization into the campaign. We plan to present voters with clear choices in the November election, with the expectation that the integrity of the voting process will be restored by then."

What's the bottom line for the special election?

In an email response to TE Patch questions about whether the press release could be read as a Duffy concession in the special election TTDems Chairwoman Dariel Jamieson said "No, I do not believe what I wrote should be construed as a concession statement.  I think  'We will wait until Voter Services certifies the vote before stating a firm opinion as to the outcome.' is pretty clear."

A Patch call to the Director of Chester County Voter Services for comments on the Democrats' press release had not been returned as of 6p.m. Thursday.

After any vote is certified, candidates have five days to request a recount. The official hand count in the Heaberg-Duffy race is expected to be certified in mid-June.

Heaberg and Duffy will square off again in the November general election for a full term at-large seat on the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors.