Delaware County board approves staff recommendations on 245 provisional ballots; 173 to be counted in full

The Delaware County Board of Elections on May 27, 2025, approved staff recommendations after reviewing 245 provisional ballots from the May election, directing election staff to process 173 as full counts, 20 as partial counts and reject 52; four rejected ballots remained eligible for counting if the voters provided acceptable identification by the close of business that day.

The decision came during a provisional ballot hearing, which the board chair said is treated as a quasi-legal proceeding and does not include public comment. Director Allen asked the board to accept the voter registration division’s review and recommendations and to authorize the Bureau of Elections to process the ballots per those recommendations. A board member moved to adopt the motion as presented and the motion carried unanimously after an oral vote.

Crystal, voter registration staff, presented the provisional-ballot review and gave the counts: “We had a total of 245 provisionals that we reviewed. 173 of those, we fully recommend to count. 20 partially counted, and 52 rejected.” She explained the reasons provisional ballots were not counted included incomplete affidavits, unsigned affidavits, voters showing up at the wrong party ballot, voters registered in a different county, duplicate vote-by-mail ballots, and precinct judges marking ballots “spoiled.” She also said four provisional ballots were left contingent on voters providing acceptable ID by the close of business on May 27, 2025.

Director Allen and other board members praised election staff for improved training and clearer forms. Allen described a new voter-facing handout listing the nine steps for voting a provisional ballot and said the county added color accents to key fields on the provisional affidavit to reduce errors. “This was an idea of Pam Lairdson,” Allen said, crediting an elections staff member for the voter handout and changes. Allen said the county plans to present the improved materials and practices to state officials as examples of best practices.

Allen also described ongoing post-election work the elections office is conducting: a return-board review of precinct returns at the voting machine warehouse, a 2% retabulation at the Wharf required by state law, and processing more than 20,000 write-in votes in contests where write-ins could affect outcomes. He said the office expected to complete that work by early Wednesday (May 28) and to post write-in results on the county website; write-in candidates would then have the statutory opportunity to submit petitions to combine variations of their names for counting.

The board discussed scheduling a certification meeting; staff said they were on track to certify on June 3, 2025, well ahead of the statutory deadline of June 9. The hearing was then adjourned.

Votes at a glance: The board voted to accept the voter registration division’s recommendations on provisional ballots as presented (motion moved by an unnamed board member; second not recorded). The motion carried unanimously by oral vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript.

Background: Provisional ballots are used when a voter’s eligibility cannot be immediately verified at the polling place. County staff evaluate provisional affidavits after the election and make recommendations to the board; the board’s acceptance authorizes the county elections office and Bureau of Elections to process the ballots consistent with applicable state law and deadlines.

What’s next: The elections office will complete the return-board precinct reviews and the state-required 2% retabulation, process write-in votes, and then finalize provisional-ballot processing per the board’s action. Any provisional ballots made contingent on ID will be counted only if the voter submits acceptable identification by the stated deadline.