WEST CHESTER, Pa. (WPVI) — Chester County Commissioners are facing continued questions from voters after releasing a report detailing what caused widespread poll book problems, long lines and extended voting hours during the 2025 general election.
Investigators found no evidence of “intentional wrongdoing” by the employees who created the poll books, but identified several factors that contributed to the Election Day issues, including poor training.
“We’re sorry,” Chester County Commissioner Chair Josh Maxwell said.
According to the report, officials discovered before polls opened on Nov. 4 that the poll books were missing 70,000 independent and third-party voters. Until supplemental books arrived, more than 12,000 voters were required to cast provisional ballots, which were later reviewed and certified after Election Day.
“We knew going into this we were going to have a lot of work to restore faith in the community,” Maxwell said.
A West Chester-based law firm that conducted the investigation attributed the error to human mistakes. Investigators said two inexperienced employees selected an option that included only major-party voters when printing the poll books, excluding all others.
“Who at the top is going to be held accountable for this massive error?” one voter asked during the public discussion of the findings.
The report also cited inadequate training, insufficient safeguards, limited oversight and staffing challenges as contributing factors. Some voters fear history will repeat itself.
“The investigation is not thorough enough, and conclusions were drawn based on limited evidence. The report does not address management failures,” another speaker said.
Kadida Kenner, founder and CEO of the New Pennsylvania Project, urged county leaders to focus on rebuilding voter confidence.
“Mistakes do happen. Unfortunately, it happened on Election Day, and a very important election. Make sure you’re providing training to your staff. Make sure Pennsylvanians feel good and comfortable about casting a ballot every year,” she said.
Investigators recommended comprehensive training, upgrades to the voter registry system and multilevel verification of poll books to prevent similar issues in future elections.
“This county prides itself on trying to be the best at a lot of things. In this case, we failed, so we gotta get back to work,” Maxwell said.
County officials said they plan to implement all 14 recommendations this year and will remain transparent throughout the process.
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