Corrected mail ballots being sent to 125 voters in a Pittsburgh precinct in Lawrenceville

AND WHY. THERE’S ONE PRECINCT IN ONE WARD IN PITTSBURGH’S LAWRENCEVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE SOME PEOPLE ARE IN ONE PITTSBURGH CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT. OTHERS ARE IN ANOTHER FOR THE 125 PEOPLE WHO ARE AFFECTED. AND THAT’S WHERE THE MIX UP HAPPENED. WHEN WE ISSUED THE BALLOT, A MISTAKE WAS MADE BY THIS DIVISION THAT THE SET SWAP, THE BALLOTS. SO MEETING THE VOTERS IN DISTRICT ONE RECEIVED I’M SORRY, COUNCIL DISTRICT ONE RECEIVED A BALLOT THAT HAD COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN ON THEM. BOBBIE WILSON REPRESENTS COUNCIL DISTRICT ONE AND FACES PRIMARY CHALLENGER STEVE OBERST. DEB GROSS REPRESENTS COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN AND FACES PRIMARY CHALLENGER JORDAN BARTA. WELL, I MEAN, THIS CITY COUNCIL RACES, THAT COULD BE CLOSE. I MEAN, THAT COULD BE DETERMINED BY A SMALL NUMBER OF VOTES. THE AFFECTED PRECINCT IS IN LAWRENCEVILLE, SIXTH WARD, DISTRICT ONE. IF YOU’RE ONE OF THE 125 VOTERS IN QUESTION CORRECTED, THE BALLOTS ARE IN THE MAIL. THE ELECTIONS DIVISION SAYS YOU SHOULD USE THE CORRECTED BALLOT INSTEAD IF YOU GET ONE AND DESTROYED THE ORIGINAL MISTAKE AND WON. I WISH I WOULD HAVE CAUGHT IT EARLIER. BUT YEAH, IT’S NICE TO KNOW THAT WE CAUGHT IT. WE CAUGHT IT TOO SOON. THE CORRECTED BALLOT WILL COME IN AN OUTER ENVELOPE WITH ONE VERTICAL GREEN BAR. YOU’LL GET A RETURN DECLARATION ENVELOPE THAT HAS TWO HORIZONTAL GREEN BARS. WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT 325 VOTERS. WE DO HAVE EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR MOST OF THESE VOTERS, AND IF NOT, WE’RE TRYING TO GET THESE VOTERS VIA PHONE. THE COUNTY SAYS IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, YOU CAN ALSO REACH OUT DIRECTLY TO THE ELECTIONS DIVISION YOURSELF BY EMAIL OR BY PHONE DOWNTOWN WITH COMMITMENT 2023 COVERAGE.

Allegheny County wants you to know the corrected ballots are in the mail and should arrive within the next few days for people in a precinct in a Pittsburgh neighborhood where mail and absentee voters were sent ballots for the wrong city council race. These are mail ballots for a single precinct in a single ward in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood."This only affects one voting precinct out of the 1,324 in Allegheny County. And the affected voters is approximately 125. Over the last week, we started mailing our mail and absentee ballots to our voters. We mailed approximately 97,000 ballots so far. So I want to put it in the context that this affects a very small amount of ballots and it's only from one precinct within the county," said David Voye, Allegheny County elections division manager.The precinct is in Lawrenceville's Sixth Ward, District One."This is a split voting district," Voye said, meaning that part of that precinct is in Pittsburgh City Council District One, the other part is in Council District Seven.Some people in that precinct got mail ballots showing the wrong City Council race for them.Bobby Wilson represents Council District One and faces primary challenger Steven Oberst.Deb Gross represents Council District Seven and faces primary challenger Jordan Botta.If you're one of the 125 voters affected, your corrected ballot is already in the mail. The elections division says if you get one, you should use the corrected ballot instead and destroy the original, mistaken one.The county will set aside ballots from the affected voters when they get them to make sure only one ballot will be counted for each voter.The corrected ballot will come in an outer envelope with one vertical green bar. If you get one, you'll get a return declaration envelope that has two horizontal green bars.Voye says this was an in-house mistake by the division, not a ballot security issue."I don't think there's a larger impact on security. We do have precautions in place that each of these voters that will receive an additional vote in the mail. They can only return one ballot and only one ballot will be counted for them," Voye said."We are attempting to contact the 125 voters. We do have email addresses for most of these voters and if not, we're trying to get these voters via phone."A statement from Allegheny County says:"The list of impacted voters is also posted on the Elections Division website and is available at https://alleghenycounty.us/elections/reissued-ballots.aspx. It contains the first initial and last name of the voter, along with the street on which the voter is registered to vote. Again, all voters are residents of Pittsburgh 06-01.""Voters may always view the sample ballot for their municipality, ward, and district on the county's webpage. If a voter is unsure of his or her municipality, ward, and district, they can use the state's "Find Voter Registration Status" tool. On the page, where the polling place address is listed, the municipality, ward and district are also found.""Impacted voters having any questions or requiring additional information may send an email to electionscontact@alleghenycounty.us, or call the Elections Division at 412.350.4500 and select option 2."

PITTSBURGH —

These are mail ballots for a single precinct in a single ward in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood.

"This only affects one voting precinct out of the 1,324 in Allegheny County. And the affected voters is approximately 125. Over the last week, we started mailing our mail and absentee ballots to our voters. We mailed approximately 97,000 ballots so far. So I want to put it in the context that this affects a very small amount of ballots and it's only from one precinct within the county," said David Voye, Allegheny County elections division manager.

The precinct is in Lawrenceville's Sixth Ward, District One.

"This is a split voting district," Voye said, meaning that part of that precinct is in Pittsburgh City Council District One, the other part is in Council District Seven.

Some people in that precinct got mail ballots showing the wrong City Council race for them.

Bobby Wilson represents Council District One and faces primary challenger Steven Oberst.

Deb Gross represents Council District Seven and faces primary challenger Jordan Botta.

If you're one of the 125 voters affected, your corrected ballot is already in the mail. The elections division says if you get one, you should use the corrected ballot instead and destroy the original, mistaken one.

The county will set aside ballots from the affected voters when they get them to make sure only one ballot will be counted for each voter.

The corrected ballot will come in an outer envelope with one vertical green bar. If you get one, you'll get a return declaration envelope that has two horizontal green bars.

Voye says this was an in-house mistake by the division, not a ballot security issue.

"I don't think there's a larger impact on security. We do have precautions in place that each of these voters that will receive an additional vote in the mail. They can only return one ballot and only one ballot will be counted for them," Voye said.

"We are attempting to contact the 125 voters. We do have email addresses for most of these voters and if not, we're trying to get these voters via phone."

A statement from Allegheny County says:

"The list of impacted voters is also posted on the Elections Division website and is available at https://alleghenycounty.us/elections/reissued-ballots.aspx. It contains the first initial and last name of the voter, along with the street on which the voter is registered to vote. Again, all voters are residents of Pittsburgh 06-01."

"Voters may always view the sample ballot for their municipality, ward, and district on the county's webpage. If a voter is unsure of his or her municipality, ward, and district, they can use the state's "Find Voter Registration Status" tool. On the page, where the polling place address is listed, the municipality, ward and district are also found."

"Impacted voters having any questions or requiring additional information may send an email to electionscontact@alleghenycounty.us, or call the Elections Division at 412.350.4500 and select option 2."

Corrected mail ballots being sent to 125 voters in a Pittsburgh precinct in Lawrenceville

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