Opinion ID: 1436318
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Ballots Found in Spoiled Envelopes and Marked Void on the Face of the Ballot

Text: Finally, we reverse the lower court in two ballots, from Beaver Falls, First Ward designated as Reed-Exhibits A & B, which were discovered in the envelope for spoiled ballots and were defaced by the word void written along the side of the ballot. Since the spoiled envelope indicates that new ballots were issued, we must conclude under the circumstances that new ballots were, in fact, issued and to avoid a double vote these ballots should not be counted. The court below based its ruling solely on the effect that should be given to the fact that the word void appeared on the face of the ballot. We do not believe that this issue can be resolved without also considering the most important fact that the ballots had also been put, apparently by an election official, into the envelope for spoiled ballots. Therefore, it is ordered that these two votes credited to Walko by the court below be hereby subtracted.