At least Democrats and Republicans were able to agree that Delaware County didn’t print enough Republican Ballots for the recent primary election on May 18. However, Democratic and GOP failed to form a consensus as to cause of the shortage.
Republicans attributed to problem to Democratic incompetence.
“This county spent millions of taxpayer dollars dollars hiring new people and buying new technology and they still can’t run an election right. This was a complete failure of leadership and accountability and I’m calling on the district attorney to launch a thorough and independent investigation,” Tom McGarrigle, chair of the Delaware County GOP, said in a statement to The Associated Press. Delco GOP Facebook
Jim Allen, director of the county Bureau of Elections, saw it differently. He told Delaware Valley Journal “The county’s ballot order not only complied with but exceeded the state requirements,” Allen said. “There are reports that turnout exceeded even those extra ballot orders in about 6 percent of the precincts. At all times, however, registered voters were able to vote on precinct equipment that generated paper ballots and emergency ballots as the county worked to print and deliver more paper ballots. The county regrets that some voters had longer wait times, and will exceed the state requirements even more for the November election.”