Nov 4, 2016 4 min read

About 5,100 Washington County voters requested absentee ballots in advance of the Nov. 8 contest, a substantial number to be sure, but actually fewer than in the past two presidential election years.

Washington County Elections Director Larry Spahr said the number of absentee ballots stood at about 5,500 in 2012, when incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama faced Republican Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor. In 2008, in Obama’s quest to become the first black president of the United States by defeating Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican, about 5,700 Washington County voters asked to cast their ballots using that method.

Republicans carried Washington County in both of those years after decades of Democratic domination. The only exception between 1932 and 2004 was President Richard Nixon’s landslide over South Dakota Sen. George McGovern in 1972.

The number of absentee ballots is often viewed as an indicator of voter interest, and the hotly contested race between Republican businessman Donald Trump, who is making his first run for public office, and former first lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been relatively normal in that regard.

“It appears this election isn’t going to be any more extraordinary than the past two presidentials,” Spahr said.

The most common question local election board members have asked Spahr is about “watchers,” those who monitor the comings and goings of voters.

“They wanted clarification about what watchers can and cannot do,” Spahr said. “I told them to make sure if somebody comes in (other than to vote), ask them why they’re there, and if they come in as a watcher, make them produce a watcher’s certificate.

“Voter intimidation, harassment, we’ve never encountered those problems extensively. If some people are of a mind of not adhering to the law, going outside the law, causing those kinds of problems, they’re going to be dealt with immediately. We will not tolerate that type of behavior.”

Because the courthouse is open as usual on Election Day, the sheriff’s office will maintain its regular complement of deputies there as security and also will have roving patrols to “keep the peace” at polling places as needed, said Capt. Anthony Interval. Two additional deputies will be working the 3 to 11 p.m. shift, and the Courthouse Square office building is where ballots from across the county are tabulated.

Tuesday was the final day to apply for an absentee ballot, and civilians’ completed ballots had to be returned to the elections office no later than Friday.

Spahr said his office has not received any calls from people who want to change an absentee vote already cast. If an absentee Pennsylvania voter is unexpectedly present in his or her home county on Election Day, he or she is to go to the local polling place and cast a ballot in person, voiding the absentee ballot.

Voters who lack confidence that electronic voting machines will correctly record a vote asked if they have a right to use a paper ballot. Pennsylvania law requires registered voters to use voting machines where they are deployed, unless a power failure, for example, knocks out 50 percent of the devices. “That’s never happened,” Spahr said.

Washington County’s smallest precincts have at least two voting machines so that if one goes down, there is a backup.

If a voter’s name is not listed in the precinct’s electronic poll book and the voter maintains he or she is, in fact, registered, the local election board is to give the person a paper provisional ballot. The canvass board, which begins working a few days after the election, will double-check the provisional voter’s status before compiling a final count of votes.