Mail-in ballots swamp Pa. elections offices
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Fred Rasel of Washington mans the grill for his Smoke Wagon BBQ business at the Washington Farmers Market on Thursday. Rasel doesn’t think the results of the election in Pennsylvania will be known for several days due to the influx of mail-in ballots.
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Aleene Jones of Brownsville prefers to vote at her polling station rather than voting by mail.
Voters in the region are increasingly concerned about the results from Tuesday’s general election being delayed while also signaling a distrust of mail-in ballots that are swamping county elections offices.
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 2.1 million mail-in and absentee ballots had been processed out of the nearly 3.1 million that were requested. Of the total mail-in ballots requested, nearly two-thirds of them are from registered Democrats, while just 25% are from Republicans.
Those mail-in ballots could become a political hot potato, because while most counties plan to open and count them beginning on Election Day – including Washington County – several counties across the state won’t begin processing them until Wednesday morning, such as Greene County. That could skew the early vote totals, making it impossible to determine winners in many statewide and local races for several days.
That isn’t surprising to Fred Rasel of Washington, who doesn’t expect Pennsylvania’s results to be announced for a while.
“I honestly planned on that and would be surprised if we knew the (presidential) winner within a week,” Rasel said as he was manning the grill for his Smoke Wagon BBQ business at the Washington Farmers Market on Thursday.
Rasel has concerns about the mail-in process, so he’s planning to vote at his polling location on Election Day.
“I’m not particularly fond of (mail-in voting), because there’s no way to tell if your vote is counted, in my opinion,” he said.
Patty Soltez of Canton Township personally delivered her mail-in ballot to the Washington County elections office recently, although she understands why some people needed to send them by mail.
But she’s also “ready for the election to be over,” so she’s disappointed it may take days to call a winner with millions of mail-in votes to be counted. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf lobbied for a process that would have allowed counties to open the mail-in ballots earlier, but he and Republican state legislators could not come to an agreement earlier this month.
“I think it should all be counted ahead so we know the winner (on election night) and not dragged out,” she said while shopping at the farmers market.
Robert Robinson, a social worker from Pittsburgh who was visiting a client in Waynesburg on Tuesday, is worried about how voters and the candidates will react to the election.
“I don’t really know how to feel about it. We’ve seen some strange things,” Robinson said as he filled up his gas tank at the Ruff Creek General Store in northern Greene County.
He doesn’t think mail-in voting will lead to problems, but he said clients have told him they’ve noticed their mail delivery has slowed significantly in recent weeks for other needed items. That’s why Robinson already submitted his mail-in ballot at the Allegheny County elections office.
“I’m just a little concerned about letting the people have a chance to speak, as imperfect as we the people are,” he said of making sure every vote is counted, whether it be sent by mail or cast on a voting machine.
Nathan Sorrell, who works for a local towing operator and stopped by the Ruff Creek convenience store to grab a snack, said he’s “tired” of the election and wants it to be over. He plans to vote in person on Election Day in his native Ohio.
“Too much of a risk of a scam,” Sorrell said. “I don’t want my (vote) to end up in a garbage bag in a creek. I want to see (his ballot) go in.”
No major problems were reported in Pennsylvania during the primary, although there have been recent reports of thousands of ballots not being delivered in Butler County for this election, and nine overseas ballots in Luzerne County were mistakenly discarded but later found and will be counted.
Elections directors in Greene and Washington counties have reported no serious issues during this election cycle, although not all mail-in ballots requested by Fayette County voters were immediately sent. That problem has since been resolved, officials there said last week.
Washington County has sent out more than 42,000 ballots, while Greene has sent about 5,000. In both counties, about 77% of the ballots have been returned as of Thursday. Fayette County is lagging behind, with only 57% of its more than 20,000 ballots returned, while Westmoreland County has received back 67% of the 75,000 ballots it sent out.
Some ballots could be rejected if they’re not properly submitted. Voters must place their ballots in secrecy envelopes before inserting them in the delivery envelope, which must be signed with the day’s date of submission.
With just a few days until the election, state officials are now advising voters to drop the ballots off at their county elections office rather than mailing them. Those who requested mail-in ballots but now want to vote in person must bring the original ballot and both envelopes to their polling location, or they won’t be permitted to vote.
While the election offices are processing unprecedented amounts of “no excuse” mail-in ballots – allowed for the first time this year in Pennsylvania due to the coronavirus pandemic – most voters interviewed this week across Greene and Washington counties and the Mon Valley said they plan to vote at their designated polling locations and are casting a weary eye on the mail-in voting process.
“I always vote in person,” said Dave Loughman of Deer Lick as he was leaving the Airport Diner near Waynesburg. “To me, that’s the way you vote. Any way it can be changed … I don’t trust it anymore.”
That sentiment is shared by Mary DeAngelo, who owns DeAngelo’s Bakery in Brownsville.
“I’m concerned about it, that they’re going to pull this off,” said DeAngelo who is voting in person. “Who’s to say they don’t count them wrong and it could take weeks?”
Aleene Jones of Brownsville prefers to vote in person, the “only way” she thinks it should be done.
“This mail-in ballot is crazy,” Jones said while taking a walk around town. “Do it the old way.”
But some who could vote by mail through absentee ballots are choosing not to do so. William Yaksic of Maxwell prefers President Donald Trump, but isn’t voting this year because of health problems. He said the only place he visits each day is Fiddle’s Diner, but he didn’t want a mail-in ballot and won’t bother going to his polling place.
“I haven’t been voting. I live by myself and I have a hard time getting down here,” he said after leaving the diner in Brownsville.
While people like Yaksic won’t vote this year, there are many first-time voters, such as Joseph Savin, who was grabbing lunch at The Hot Dog Barn in Monessen. The local plumber said he was inspired to vote for the first time this year after Trump’s victory four years ago that showed him the people’s voice can be heard if enough show up at the polls. But he’s also looking forward to after the election when the country can begin healing its divisions, if possible.
“I’m ready for all of it to be over, this whole year,” Savin said. “The back and forth and one-sidedness. Everyone’s really partisan, and I don’t want it to be that way.”