Commission chairman: county solicitor asks ballot group to alter wording

A nonprofit organization that sent a mass mailing will be getting a “cease and desist” letter from the Washington County solicitor because of the implication that county officials are encouraging everyone to vote by mail in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The Center for Voter Information based in Washington, D.C., sent a letter that opens with the sentence, “The Pennsylvania Secretary of State and county election officials encourage EVERYONE to use mail-in ballots in upcoming elections.” (The capitalization is used in the letter.)
Commission Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan, who is also in charge of the Washington County Elections Board, instructed Solicitor Jana Grimm to draft a letter taking issue with the verbiage, calling it “a misrepresentation of the will of the local election board.
“That is not correct,” she said, because if everyone voted by mail, “it would be very challenging to process total vote-by-mail balloting.”
A disclaimer on the bottom of the mailer notes, “the Center for Voter Information is not affiliated with state or local election officials.”
The Center for Voter Information mail-in ballot application includes a postage-paid envelope, and by midday Monday, a tray of applications had arrived at the Washington County elections office for processing.
About 22,000 voters mailed in ballots for the June 2 primary, and David Ball, chairman of the county’s Election Review Committee, estimated the total number of mail-in ballots could reach 70,000 for the general election.
“If someone sends the mail-in ballot request from the Voter Information Center and it contains correct information for a registered voter to the Washington County elections office, it will be processed, although actual ballots won’t be mailed until next month,” said Melanie Ostrander, Washington County elections director.
For example, Democrat Joe Biden has not yet chosen a vice presidential candidate, a name that also appears on the ballot although the two run as a slate.
Until their respective political parties complete the nomination process, President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Biden are considered “presumptive nominees,” Ostrander said.
Although the county can’t change what was already sent from the Voter Information Center, Irey Vaughan said she hopes the wording in a “second wave” of mailings, should there be one, would be altered to reflect her concerns.
The Voter Information Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Also, Washington and Greene counties, respectively, each had single drop-off points for those who preferred to hand-deliver their ballot rather than rely on the mail.
Each county elections office collected ballots, and, to avoid unnecessary traffic in the elections office itself, Washington County set up a ballot box manned by an observer on the ground floor of the Courthouse Square office building on Election Day until 8 p.m., the time that polls close.
Voters dropping off a ballot are to do so in person.