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Northampton County elections office reports limited mail-ballot labeling errors, outlines fixes ahead of primary
Summary
The Northampton County elections registrar reported finalized polling locations, ongoing judge training and that a limited number of mailings contained labeling or party-ballot errors; affected voters were contacted and corrected ballots were issued ahead of the upcoming primary.
The Northampton County Election Commission received an update from Registrar Chris at its meeting about preparations for the upcoming primary and a small number of mail-ballot issues that have been addressed.
Chris told commissioners polling locations have been finalized, sufficient poll workers identified and training is underway. Voting machines are scheduled for delivery and an interdepartmental team is coordinating ballot return and election-night reporting. Two early pop-up events produced a total of 34 early voters at college locations, and on-demand balloting recorded 44 voters in the first week.
On mailings, staff reported that 24,494 ballots were mailed on the first day and an additional 1,232 were mailed later. As of the report, 412 ballots had been returned via dropboxes; Chris provided a box-by-box breakdown (for example, 147 at the human resources building and 76 at the rotunda). He said some voters briefly received incorrect party ballots or duplicate ballot packets due to labeling issues but that affected voters were contacted and provided corrected ballots.
"We were able to catch this in our processes," Chris said, describing redundancies in the office’s workflow that detected erroneous labels and prevented duplicate ballots from being counted. He also said the county identified the individual(s) responsible and will handle personnel matters internally.
Staff reminded voters of key deadlines and cure options: mail-in ballot applications are due the Tuesday before the election by 5 p.m., returned mail ballots must be in the election office by 8 p.m. on election night (postmarks do not qualify), and voters may 'cure' an incorrectly completed mail ballot (for example, by fixing a missing signature) until 8 p.m. on election day. Dropbox locations and an updated polling-place lookup are posted at northamptonvotes.com.
The registrar also described equipment and staffing: one scanner with a burned-out motor was decommissioned after testing and will not be used until repaired; alternates are available for election day and audits. Two election-division vacancies (an election-technology specialist and a deputy elections registrar) remain open and recruitment is under way.
The meeting concluded with commissioners asking that press releases and training materials be circulated to the commission. Commissioners requested copies of judge training and safety materials so they can review and offer input after the election certification process is complete.
The commission adjourned following a motion and second.
