Mail-in ballots set to go out following Vodvarka’s removal from GOP primary
The state Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court decision to remove Joseph Vodvarka from the GOP primary ballot, all but guaranteeing a general election matchup between Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick.
The high court’s decision Friday to keep Vodvarka off the ballot means elections offices across the state can now begin sending out mail-in and absentee ballots less than a month before the April 23 primary.
Fayette County Elections Director MaryBeth Kuznik said they were working on the ballots Monday and expect to begin sending them out by the end of this week.
There is a caveat, though, since Vodvarka’s name will still be on the Republican ballot in Fayette County because they received notification so late in the game. That means the elections office will have to inform Republican voters that anyone who selects Vodvarka in the primary won’t be tallied and will be considered an “undervote” in the U.S. Senate race.
“We will have a notice for each ballot,” Kuznik said about the literature announcing the situation.
Washington County Elections Director Melanie Ostrander said she expects to begin sending out the bulk of the ballots on April 1 in order to give people enough time to fill out their selections and return them.
Vodvarka’s name will be on the GOP primary ballots in Washington County, along with fellow failed U.S. Senate candidate William Parker, who also was booted off the ballot but his name will still be seen by Democratic voters. Just like in Fayette County, literature will be placed in the mail and at polling stations alerting people that votes for those candidates won’t be counted due to their removal.
In Greene County, the ballots are now being finalized and won’t have Vodvarka’s name on them since Elections Director Joe Lemley said they waited until the final set of candidates were approved by the state Department of State. He expects they could be sending ballots out as soon as today.
“We’re trying to get the vendor to work with us to get all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed,” Lemley said. “The candidate list was approved by the state and (Vodvarka’s) name is not on the ballot.”
People have until April 16 to request a mail-in or absentee ballot by filling out an application and returning it to their county’s elections office, or by going online to www.vote.pa.gov to apply online.