LEHIGH CO., Pa – At the Lehigh County Election office workers are getting ready for the May 19th primary election.
One of their many duties now includes sending out letters to 115 voters, like Austin Reed.
Reed got his mail-in ballot this week and noticed something strange.
“I was looking at the actual ballot, and the names didn’t seem to be affiliated with the party that I was at. I took a closer look at it and realized that they sent me the wrong party ballot,” said Reed.
Reed is a Republican, but he was sent a Democratic mail-in ballot.
Turns out. He’s not alone.
“It was a simple clerical human error. We pulled from the 2025 primary role instead of the 2026,” said Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel.
Siegel says the people impacted were mostly those who changed their party affiliation.
Siegel says the county caught the error and is making sure all 115 of the voters impacted get the right ballots before the election.
Reed says he will be stopping by the office to get a new ballot but says this is just the kind of thing that undermines people’s faith in the mail-in ballot system.
But Siegel says the county is doing everything it can to ensure the election is fair and accurate.
“I would just reassure people that this was not an act of malfeasance or maliciousness the election is free, fair, and secure,” said Siegel.
If you were one of the 115 voters impacted, you will be receiving a letter instructing you to reapply for a mail-in ballot or to call or come into the office.
County officials say there’s still plenty of time to get a ballot and mail it back.
And if one of the wrong ballots does end up being mailed, Siegel says the system will recognize it’s a mistake and will not count it.
Link to WFMZ-TV Election Central page – https://www.wfmz.com/news/election/ballot/#tncms-source=Top-Navigation-Election-Ballot.