The Delaware County Bureau of Elections hasn’t been able to put together a complete data set from the November 3 election, according to an email obtained by Delaware Valley Journal, and the lone GOP member of the election board finds one of the remaining discrepancies “concerning.”
The email, from Christina Iacono, the poll worker coordinator for the county, was addressed to all “minority” poll inspectors, which are elected poll worker positions, according to the county’s website.
“Minority inspector” generally refers to poll workers with a different party affiliation from the “majority inspector,” as the elected poll workers at each location ideally should have a political balance between them.
“Unfortunately, due to missing data, election results from your precinct cannot be confirmed and approved for final tabulation until the missing data is reconciled,” the email says.
“The missing data may be any of the following: Missing yellow numbered list of voters; Incorrect numbers in the yellow book (numbers that do not match the scanner tabulation); Missing ballot reconciliation forms (this impacts the ballot chain of custody); Missing information on the close of night Return Sheet,” (edited for punctuation and clarity).
The item of “incorrect numbers in the yellow book (numbers that do not match the scanner tabulation)” is something that concerns the lone Republican on the Delaware County Board of Elections, James Byrne.
Byrne says the yellow book is different than the full register all voters must sign. When a voter enters the polling place, they sign the main register, and a poll worker announces the voter’s name. The minority inspector is supposed to keep an accurate list of who voted at the location by writing each name down as it is called, according to Byrne.
“So that’s where, I think, they’re having a problem is that the number of votes they’re coming up with are not matching the [number of names] in the yellow book,” Byrne told Delaware Valley Journal. “That’s concerning, you know?”
Delaware County officials declined repeated requests for comment or clarification from Delaware Valley Journal.
Byrne says the problems in the email must be addressed quickly because deadlines are fast approaching.
“We have a meeting next Monday, the 23rd, to certify the vote, so I’m hoping that if there are problems out there, they are brought to our attention before we certify anything, you know?” Byrne said.
“I’ve received a number of calls, and [people reporting] issues, and I’ve passed them along. And I’m hoping that somebody is going to give us assurance that everything is accurate before we certify any vote.”
Byrne has been vocal about many of the processes and decisions the election board and other entities within the county have made in the run-up to Election Day. His relentless questioning has clearly created friction at times within the three-member board and other election officials.
In October, Byrne objected to the creation of a temporary “pop-up” voting site at Subaru Park, but only because he said the question being voted on had not been properly advertised to solicit public comment, and therefore claimed it violated the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act.
Days later, a group of Republicans filed suit against the voting site for those exact reasons and asked for an injunction against the “mobile” voting site. A judge, however, denied the request saying the plaintiffs failed “to establish a clear right to relief.”
It is not clear that the Iacono email demonstrates or even alludes to voting fraud, whether intentional or accidental. However, it comes at a time when elected Republicans in Harrisburg are agitating for an audit of the 2020 election and its processes.
Lawmakers are expected to take up the audit question on Wednesday, according to The Morning Call.
