Provisional ballots challenged as Westmoreland officials gear up for recount

John Holwell had no intention of letting the ballot he cast this month be invalidated, so he came to the Westmoreland County Courthouse on Friday armed with information to defend his vote.

“I was ready to do battle,” said Holwell, 66, of Madison.

Holwell’s provisional ballot was one of eight cast May 17 that were challenged for alleged deficiencies.

Westmoreland commissioners, acting as the county’s Elections Board, heard those challenges Friday morning and voted to accept four of the flagged ballots, including the one cast by Holwell.

County elections officials said more than 200 voters cast provisional ballots on Election Day.

Lawyers for the campaigns of David McCormick and Mehmet Oz, the two leading candidates for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, challenged six provisional ballots, including the one cast by Holwell.

Both campaigns are fighting over every vote cast this month. Statewide, Oz on Friday held a small lead of less than 1,000 votes over McCormick. A lawsuit is pending in state appeals court in which McCormick is asking that hundreds of undated mail-in votes be counted.

In Westmoreland County, elections officials said 64 undated mail-in ballots were received, including 20 from Republicans. County commissioners deferred any decisions on whether to include those ballots in the official count while the state courts weigh the issue.

Meanwhile, a state-ordered recount in the race started Friday. Greg McCloskey, interim director of the Westmoreland County Election Bureau, said the more than 87,000 votes cast in the May primary will be reviewed and recounted beginning June 1. State law prohibits the county from conducting the recount with the same equipment used during the initial vote tally. Additional equipment was rented to facilitate the recount, the cost of which will be reimbursed by the state, McCloskey said.

“We expect it to take three days to finish,” McCloskey said.

Holwell’s vote will be included in that recount.

Holwell’s ballot was challenged by both the McCormick and Oz campaigns because his voting registration records listed his home address in Sewickley Township, where he formerly lived but moved from years ago. Holwell on Friday provided proof of his new address in Madison.

“I’ve voted all my life and voted in every election. I’m a U.S. citizen, born and raised and it’s my duty to vote,” Holwell said.

Neither McCormick nor Oz will benefit from Holwell’s ballot.

“I didn’t vote for either of those fellows,” Holwell said.