Ballots were still in question Thursday afternoon.

The Erie County Board of Elections held a public hearing at the Erie County Courthouse regarding the nearly 2,800 voters in the county who were issued provisional ballots at the polls on election day.  

After they were received on Nov. 5, the Erie County Voter Registration Office researched the eligibility of these voters through authorized representatives, starting Nov. 8, 2024. 

According to the Board of Elections, a number of people did not register to vote and therefore got their ballots rejected. Some voters went to the incorrect precinct, and their ballots either received a full count or a partial count, depending on where they voted.

After review on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, there were 805 challenged ballots as a result.

After deliberation with lawyers, discussion and observation of Pennsylvania law Thursday, 101 of those ballots were not counted because the voter did not sign the ballot or signed incorrectly. 

According to the solicitor for the Board of Elections, Tom Talarico, the remaining 704 went on to be counted because there were clerical errors made by poll workers, therefore not the fault of the voters.

The Board of Elections carried out the motion with a 5-1 vote to proceed with this result.

"The Board of Elections simply recognized the law, so they didn't have a whole lot of room to move to begin with," Talarico said. "The nay vote was made by one of the council persons that felt that the ballot should have no clerical errors either."

Despite frustrations from voters in attendance, a judge of elections and a minority inspector who attended the hearing told Erie News Now they were "satisfied" with the hearing's outcome.

"We know that we're dealing specifically with provisional ballots, so there was a date in question, [and] of course it can only happen on election day," said André Horton, Chairman of the Erie County Board of Elections. "Everyone voted their conscience, and most of us followed the opinion of our solicitor. I'm pleased about that."