Philadelphia Inquirer. Last month, officials mistakenly sent poll books to precincts in Chester County (PA) that did not include the names of independent and third-party voters. As a consequence, over 12,000 voters (mostly independent and third-party voters) were forced to vote on provisional ballots until the supplemental poll books arrived.

“The Chester County Board of Elections rejected Republican challenges to provisional ballots Monday as the board prepares to launch an investigation into a poll book error that forced thousands of independent and third-party voters to cast provisional ballots during this month’s election.

In a nearly six-hour meeting, the Democratic-led board heard from dozens of voters and poll workers who described the chaos they endured on Nov. 4 during the high-turnout municipal election. . . .

. . . .

The Chester County Republican Committee objected to the counting of more than 1,000 ballots ahead of Monday’s meeting. That number whittled down as the committee withdrew objections to ballots where the error was likely caused by election workers. But the GOP committee’s attorney argued that it would be illegal to count ballots missing the first required voter signature or a secrecy envelope.

The election board . . . argu[ed] that the county’s mistake allowed the board to accept ballots that would be rejected under normal circumstances.”