YORK, Pa. — York County officials held a hand recount of some ballots Thursday morning in an effort to increase voter confidence in the integrity of the Nov. 8 election.
Three York County precincts—from York City, a borough and a township—were chosen at random to have their ballots recounted. The precincts selected were York 8, Jacobus Borough and West Manchester Township 4.
Poll workers sorted the ballots by the gubernatorial candidate selected. Those were hand-counted, then run through a counting machine for confirmation. The process was then repeated for the Senate race.
The results of the recount matched the unofficial election results reported by precincts.
“It’s about being transparent. So all we’re doing today is demonstrating transparency with the voters. We want to ensure the voters that their vote was cast in the manner in which they wanted it cast,” said York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler.
Several members of the public who came to watch the recount have publicly supported conspiracy theories about election fraud.
Angela Kline was part of a failed effort to get a referendum on the ballot asking voters whether to stop the use of electronic voting machines. In previous public meetings, Kline has criticized Dominion Voting Systems machines, following claims by former President Donald Trump and his allies that they’re rigged.
She said she came to the recount to answer questions of family and friends.
“They don’t trust the machines and the mail-in ballots. That is probably even a bigger one, where this isn’t addressing that today,” she said.
Still, Kline said she didn’t see any discrepancies in the recount.
“I’m very happy with it, so far.”
The York County Board of Voter Registration and Elections will also perform a risk-limiting audit to confirm the accuracy of the precincts, as required by the state.