NorCo's Election Results Are Official

Northampton County's June 2 Presidential Primary Election results are now official. Registrar Amy Cozze managed to complete the canvass within three days of the primary. She was unable to certify results, however, because of several tie votes in GOP committee races. In accordance with directives from the Department of State, lots were drawn June 19, and results certified soon thereafter.

Total turnout was 29.71%, higher than might be expected in an election with only a few contested races. Democrats were more energized. Their turnout was 37.97%, compared to 34.88% for Republicans. If motivated Democrats vote in the general election, Donald Trump and Congressional candidate Lisa Scheller are in trouble. Democrats outnumber Republicans, 97,136 to 75,466. There are, however, 40,370 unaffiliated voters. Unable to vote in closed party primaries, they will likely be the deciding factor in contested races.

Mail-in voting was a huge success, with 75,466 voters who exercised that option. The elections office began its count at 7 am, and finished soon after the polls closed. Despite a pandemic, 25,661 voters chose to vote at the polls.

There were also 769 provisional ballots. Those are filled out at the polling precinct. A decision to count or disallow them is made during the canvass (the official tally). Most of those who cast provisional ballots are voters who neglected to send in their mail-in ballots. In addition, there are always voters in primaries who insist they are registered as a Democrat or Republican. There are also people who insist they are registered even though no record can be located. This class of voters casts provisional ballots, and the merits of their claims are decided at the canvass. If a provisional voter is discounted, he or she can seek relief from a judge.

Throughout the day, there were two reports of machine failure. In one instance, it is because too much disinfectant was sprayed on the screen. No votes were lost.

At a meeting of the Elections Commission on June 18, Registrar Amy Cozze and her Chief Deputy, Amy Hess, were commended by all five members. Four of these five members had previously challenged every move she made, from the voting machine to the electronic poll books. During courtesy of the floor, four members of The Elections Comm'n were chastised by a member of the public for having "unfairly maligned" the two Amys. Since that member of the public was me, they paid no heed.

I also said they owed an apology for their intransigence with respect to the electronic poll books, which proved to be a Godsend at the polls. Their ability to locate a voter quickly streamlined the check-in process, but that is only part of the reason for their success. With paper boll books, thousands upon thousands of pages must be scanned after an election to determine who really voted. That usually takes two weeks. With epollbooks, it took an hour.

Maude Hornick, who chairs the Elections Commission, refused to apologize for her opposition to epollbooks, despite their obvious success. But she had to commend the two Amys.

"I'm really proud of my staff," said Cozze. "They were awesome."

Cozze was asked about setting up a drop off location for mail-in ballots before the general election. She said she is considering it, but it has to be secure and a chain of custody must be beyond reproach.

She also predicted it will be much more difficult to count the mail-ins during the general election. She expects as many as 150,000, and said she hopes the state legislature authorizes elections officials to begin the count sooner.