FEKM to investigate election glitch
The law firm of law firm Fleck Eckert Klein McGarry has been appointed to investigate the Nov. 4 election day glitch that left more than 75,000 people off the election day roll books.
Third-party and non-affiliated voters had to file provisional ballots until new books were sent out later in the day of Nov. 4. The county said 12,600 provisional ballots were cast by voters whose names did not appear in the poll book. Affected voters included those registered as Independent, Libertarian, Green Party, Non-Partisan, and No Affiliation.
FEKM was one of 10 firms that were invited to submit proposals and was selected based on its experience in investigating election issues and its independence from Chester County Government.
The contract with FEKM will be a “not to exceed” contract with a $35,000 maximum.
According to a press release, Chester County CEO David Byerman said, the investigation will be a critical next step in restoring trust in the county’s democratic process.
“We deeply regret the errors that occurred on and before Election Day, and through this review, we commit to identifying the root causes of the problem and ensuring that it does not happen again,” he said.
The independent investigation will focus on five key questions:
1- What was the root cause of the production of incomplete poll books that led to the omission of third-party voters?
2- What processes and controls were in place within the Department of Voter Services to ensure poll book accuracy?
3- How and why did those processes fail? Were the processes and controls insufficient, or were they not properly followed?
4- What other factors contributed to the failure or impeded Voter Services staff from identifying or reporting concerns?
5- What caused the significant delays on Election Day as the County worked to mitigate the issue, and why weren’t supplemental poll books delivered to some polling places in a more timely manner?
FEKM will interview key personnel involved in poll book preparation, review, and distribution, and will evaluate internal controls and communication channels within the. Department of Voter Services.
The firm will identify causes and contributing factors of the poll book error; distinguish between human error and systemic deficiencies; and recommend improvements to oversight, accountability, and transparency in election operations.
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