Northampton County reports 40,588 votes in municipal primary; 2% audit passed, undated ballots counted under court order

Northampton County elections staff reported 40,588 votes were cast in the municipal primary held May 20, county elections staff said, and completed the official canvass on May 28.

The county’s elections staff said the total produced an 18% turnout overall and 22% turnout among voters registered with the two major parties: 15,489 Republican voters and 25,099 Democratic voters. Of those votes, 21,916 were cast in person and 18,586 were returned by mail; county staff reported a 75% return rate for mailed ballots.

Chris Vargo, elections staff, said, “In total, we had 40,588 votes cast in that election.” He also gave the county’s breakdown: “15,489 Republicans and 25,099 Democratic voters,” and added that the official computation and canvas began May 23 and was completed May 28.

Why it matters: the canvass and the post-election audit confirm the county’s official returns and the integrity steps taken after the vote. The county also took procedural steps to resolve close-ballot questions: casting of lots to determine ballot position or winners in tied races is scheduled for Friday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. in the county cafeteria; county staff said five races will be subject to casting of lots, four for ballot position and one to determine the winner in Hanover Township supervisor, six-year term.

Solicitor’s report and undated/misstated ballots

Mike, the county solicitor, told commissioners there is no pending local litigation arising from the primary but that the county is continuing to follow a federal court injunction concerning undated and misstated mail ballots. “So in accordance with the federal injunction, we did count the misstated and undated mail in ballots,” he said, and added the county will continue to follow any court instructions if they change.

Audit and provisional ballots

Elections staff reported the county conducted the 2% post-election audit required by Act 88 during the canvass and “passed the audit without issue,” Vargo said. The office received 106 provisional ballots on election night and counted 86 of them; staff said the 20 provisionals that were not counted were related to party-eligibility problems, duplicate mail-in submissions or similar issues.

Operational note

Vargo described routine drop-box collection and processing: drop boxes are treated as timely if picked up by 8 p.m. on election day, and the office hand-scans envelopes or ballots that fail to read on the scanner. He said one ballot’s envelope did not register during hand scanning but the ballot itself was found and counted after staff located and pre-scanned the envelope.

Next steps and calendar

Elections staff said the next Election Commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 5 at 3:00 p.m., and the next municipal general election is Tuesday, Nov. 4. The county will proceed with the scheduled casting of lots on June 6 to resolve the five contests identified during the canvass.

Ending

County staff and the solicitor repeatedly told commissioners the office will continue to follow state guidance and any court orders affecting how mail ballots are handled. Commissioners asked follow-up questions about envelope design, drop-box handling and how the office contacts voters when mailings are returned as undeliverable.