Fayette County officials weigh in on unprecedented election
As the nation gears up for a presidential election amidst a pandemic and deepening political divides, officials on both sides of the aisle agreed on at least one point.
“It’s total madness in this country,” said George Rattay, Fayette County Democratic Party chairman.
Mail-in ballots were a hot button issue for both Rattay and Republican Party of Fayette County Chairman Bill Kozlovich. While Rattay said he has received thousands of calls from voters concerned about properly filling out the ballots, Kozlovich doesn’t trust the new system.
“There’s too much room for fraud,” he said.
The Fayette County Election Bureau received 12,133 completed mail-in ballots as of Thursday evening, following 22,400 applications for mail-in ballots, said Fayette County Election Bureau Director Larry Blosser. Of those received, 1,100 were filled out incorrectly. Those voters were contacted individually to resubmit their ballots. The majority of the errors were caused by voters writing their date of birth in the slot designated for the voting date.
Blosser is concerned about erroneous ballots received at or near the voting deadline.
“It’s going to get down to the wire. Some won’t be able to get counted,” he said.
Rattay said erroneous ballots are not the fault of the election bureau, but are highly problematic to the electoral process.
“That’s a ridiculously high error rate for a process that is supposed to be an easy process,” he said.
He has taken 3,400 calls from voters concerned about filling out their mail-in ballots properly.
“People are very concerned. They want to make sure that their ballot counts, that they can get into the election office in time,” he said.
Kozlovich said mail-in ballots are his biggest concern. He referenced reports that some county voters received mail-in ballots that were pre-filled, which is under investigation by Fayette County District Attorney Rich Bower.
“It’s too easy for people to change things and make that happen,” Kozlovich said.
Kozlovich also criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s last-minute decision to count mail-in ballots received up to three days late in Pennsylvania, with similar rulings in other battleground states.
“Election Day is Nov. 3, not Nov. 6,” he said.
The ruling shook his confidence in the electoral process, he said, noting concerns the process could be tainted in the days after the election.
“I do not have a lot of confidence in what’s going to happen in this election. I honestly believe this election process will end up in the courts,” he said. “It scares me.”
He said he hopes Donald Trump will win in a landslide “so we won’t have to worry about mail-in ballots.”
He projected Trump as the winner based on huge crowds attending his rallies and calls from longtime democrats who said they are voting for Trump.
“If anybody’s done their homework whatsoever, they’ll realize that it will be disastrous for our country and what’s going to happen in the next four years if they don’t re-elect Donald Trump,” he said.
Rattay predicted a big win for Biden and democrats.
“We may not win Fayette County, but we’re going to win Pennsylvania. We’re going to take back the White House and the Senate,” he said.
He said he talks to people every day who are concerned about the country.
“If they like what’s going on here, then I would say vote for Donald Trump, but if you want change and want to get some sanity back, then you better vote for Joe Biden,” he said.
Blosser encouraged voters to carefully read through the provided instructions on mail-in ballots.
“If they read through it, they should have no problem,” he said.
He reminded voters to sign the ballot, print their name and print their address. Election officials will begin counting mail-in ballots at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
He said they are working tirelessly to ensure that ballots are properly mailed and counted and following procedures. He wants voters to maintain faith in the electoral process.
Blosser expects high voter turnout, but was hesitant to estimate what percentage of the county’s 82,379 registered voters would cast ballots. Mail-in ballots accounted for 50% of the total turnout at the primary election. The same pattern would result in a turnout of more than 50%, but he said turnout will likely be higher than that.
“This is going to be an election to remember,” he said.
Not only will voters will cast a ballot for president, they will also vote for attorney general, auditor general and treasurer for the state.
Local voters will decide between incumbent U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Bill Marx. The 14th Congressional district covers Fayette, Greene, Washington counties and a portion of Westmoreland.
Fayette County voters will also chose between candidates for four, two-year seats in the state House of Representatives.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Matthew Dowling and Democrat Kevin Jones are running in the 51st; Incumbent Republican Ryan Warner and Democrat Harry Young Cochran are running in the 52nd; Incumbent Republican Bud Cook and Democrat Randy J. Barli are running in the 49th; Incumbent Democrat Pam Snyder and Republican Larry Yost are running in the 50th.
Vote totals will be updated throughout the night on www.heraldstandard.com/election as they become available.