Voter turnout higher than expected for November election in Butler County
More than 43% of registered county voters participated in the Nov. 5 election, which is “well over” the typical amount for municipal elections, according to the Butler County Bureau of Elections director.
Director Chantell McCurdy said the 43% equates to about 142,370 registered voters. About 10%, or 14,251 people, voted by mail or absentee, which was more than the election bureau was expecting, McCurdy said.
“There’s definitely heightened interest in elections right now,” said Commissioner Leslie Osche. “I think that’s great the turnout was high in an off-year.”
She said she thought as the Supreme Court race tightened, voters became more interested.
The election also saw 218 provisional ballots cast, and voters wrote in 17,863 names for write-in votes. McCurdy said the number of provisional ballots alone could be enough to sway an election.
“We want to make sure we have everything evaluated before we try to finalize everything,” McCurdy said.
On Friday, the election computation board will meet at 9 a.m. for a public meeting to count to provisional ballots and write-ins. McCurdy said for the write-ins, the board must go line-by-line and agree for which candidate the write-in vote is for. The results will also be viewable on a screen in the election bureau as the board counts votes.
When the meeting starts, McCurdy said the board will be sworn in and assign a president secretary. The board then decides which votes they want to count first and begins the process.
County solicitor Julie Graham will also attend to answer any election questions from the board that may arise.
The election computation board members then sign their first certification of the votes. Residents then have five days to challenge any election results before the computation board signs their second certification and sends to results to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Electronic poll pads also debuted in every precinct in the Nov. 5 election after being tested in three precincts for the May primary.
McCurdy said poll workers found the electronic poll books more efficient. Instead of flipping through a poll book organized alphabetically, poll works now enter the first three letters of the voter’s first and last name to verify their voting eligibility.
“People are settling into their roles and our new building when they drop stuff off. We’ve got a good rhythm,” McCurdy said.
When asked about the electronic poll pads on Tuesday, many voters said they didn’t even notice the change in process. Only the poll check-in is electronic, and paper ballots are filled out by hand and inserted into a machine like previous elections.
