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County reviewing vote counting procedures

County commissioners Wednesday selected three voting precincts as test sites for a review of vote-counting procedures.

Results of all the races on the ballot of the 2020 election in the Middlesex Township South, Donegal Township and Butler City 4-1 precincts will be counted by machine and by hand, and the results will be compared to determine the time and staffing needed to conduct hand counts, commissioners said at their Wednesday meeting.

The review also will examine the reconciliation between voter registration rolls and the vote count.

Party leaders and judges of elections will be invited to observe the review, which will be conducted in the county Government Center.

The commissioners said that next week they will consult with solicitor Wil White, the acting interim director of the county Bureau of Elections, to select a date to begin the review. White is on vacation this week.

Leslie Osche, chairwoman of the commissioners, said the 2020 election results are being used as a template to review election procedures to help ensure election integrity.

The three precincts to be used in the review were randomly selected. The names of all 89 voting precincts were printed on sheets of paper. The sheets were cut into small squares with each square containing the name of a precinct. The squares were separated into large, medium and small categories based on the number of voters in each precinct, and placed in bags.

A Boy Scout who attended to meeting to help earn a merit badge was selected to pick one precinct from each bag.

Osche said the review of the Butler City 4-1 precinct, the smallest of the three selected precincts, will be conducted first to give officials an idea of the time it would take to complete a review.

Elections bureau staff will perform the review, and commissioners will make sure the elections bureau office will be staffed and operational during the review, Osche said.

Commissioner Kevin Boozel said commissioners discussed the review with bureau staff, who are “fully engaged’ in the review.

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