Deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is Tuesday
Tuesday is the last day to request a regular absentee or no-excuse mail-in ballot, and Washington County Elections Director Melanie Ostrander said Friday, “We anticipate Monday and Tuesday being a little bit crazy because of the deadline.”
When Washington County moved its ballot drop box a few yards from a hallway to behind the counter inside the elections office on the second floor of the Courthouse Square office building for security purposes, some voters were irritated that, instead of quickly dropping and exiting, they had to stand in a socially distant line to gain entrance.
“We’ve done crowd control as well,” Ostrander said.
During peak periods, members of the elections office staff have spoken with those in line to determine their intentions. Some are initiating the in-person early-voting process, while others have their sealed ballots in hand.
Those who work in the elections office are permitted to handle ballots of voters who might be worried that the time on their parking meter is about to expire. But if a voter wants to personally place a ballot in the box, he or she is permitted to do so.
The single drop-off point for Greene County voters is the election office at 93 E. High St., Room 102, Waynesburg. It is typically open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., including lunch hours.
The Election Code calls for county election offices to remain open through 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, for early in-person voting and absentee and mail-in ballot applications.
“We are offering to come to your car to retrieve your ballot,” according to a news release prepared by the Greene County commissioners, acting as the county Election Board. “Please call ahead 724-852-5230.”
Anyone who requested an absentee or mail-in ballot, but did not receive it, or, if someone receives a ballot with anomalies, the voter is asked to contact the elections office immediately. Greene County and Washington County complete ballot preparations in-house and neither uses a contractor or third-party.
Two Greene County polling places have changed: Carmichaels Borough will be using the fellowship hall of the First United Methodist Church, 104 W. South St., and Jefferson Precinct No. 3, volunteer fire department, 1483 Jefferson Road.
There are vacancies that Greene County is seeking to fill on local boards of elections. A judge and a clerk are need to work in Jefferson Precinct No. 2, Pitt Gas, and a Democrat is needed to work as majority inspector in Wayne West. Anyone interested should call the elections office at the phone number above.
The potential of delays in the postal system have prompted voters to take the matter into their own hands in this year’s presidential election, the rules for which have changed since 2016.
When the Pennsylvania Election Code had its biggest overhaul in 80 years that was signed into law in 2019 to include no-excuse mail-in voting, neither legislators nor the governor was anticipating a pandemic.
Total approved mail-in and absentee mail-in ballots statewide as of Friday were 2,940,219. Of these, 1,864,361 ballots were from Democrats, 739,511 were from Republicans, and 336,347 were from third-party and unaffiliated voters.
Although the state Supreme Court has ruled that ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 can still be counted if they arrive at elections offices by Nov. 6, elections officials are beseeching voters not to wait until the last minute.
“If you have to mail, do so no later than Monday, Oct. 26,” said Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar in a Zoom press conference Friday morning.
“In Pennsylvania, you can only deliver your own ballot, except for voters with disabilities who can designate an agent.
“The agent signs it, accepting responsibility, and just include that with your ballot.
“And please don’t return a naked ballot because it won’t count.”
The “naked ballot” is one that is not sealed in a secrecy envelope. The secrecy envelope is placed in an outer envelope with a declaration form that must include the date of the declaration – not the voter’s birthdate, and his or her signature.
The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that Pennsylvania’s Election Code does not authorize nor require county election boards to throw out absentee or mail-in ballots if the signature does not match the voter registration signature on file.
Mail-in and absentee voters are asked to sign a declaration stating they are qualified to vote and did not already do so. Voters must print their name and address, and then sign and date the declaration.
The court found that in applying for the mail-in or absentee ballot, a voter already had to verify his or her identity using personal information such as a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number.
County election officials compare that to the voter’s registration card, and confirm the person making the request is qualified to vote before sending out a ballot, the court noted.
The ruling ordered “the county boards of elections not to reject absentee or mail-in ballots for counting, computing, and tallying based on signature comparisons conducted by county election officials or employees, or as the result of third-party challenges based on such comparisons.”
Boockvar had asked the state Supreme Court to review the matter since the issue is regarding state law.
In response to a similar federal suit filed by Donald J. Trump for President Inc. and the Republican National Committee, a federal judge also ruled that there was nothing in the state’s Election Code that allowed county officials to disregard ballots when the signatures do not match.