Local elections debunk notion of ‘early voting’ in PA
With less than two months until voters cast their ballots in a hotly contested presidential election, local officials are again dispelling false information and reissuing warnings of scams.
One of the more recent inaccurate claims circulating on social media, television and radio involves early voting.
“We do not have early voting in Pennsylvania,” said Fayette County Election Bureau Director Marybeth Kuznik.
While there is a short period of time where those who request mail-in or absentee ballots may come into the elections office to vote, Kuznik stressed that is not the same as early voting.
“We’ve been getting a lot of calls,” said Director of Elections for Washington County Melanie Ostrander. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there.”
Ostrander said she thinks some of the confusion surrounding the claims about early voting may stem from a Sept. 16 deadline for county boards of elections to start processing applications for absentee and mail-in ballots.
“There is information out there that on Sept. 16 you can start requesting or receiving your mail-in ballot, which is not the case,” Ostrander said. “That deadline refers to when elections officials must begin to process (the applications.)”
Officials are also dealing with a text message scam that tells voters there is a problem with their registration. The text includes a link for voters to update their status.
“Do not click or you may get malware,” Kuznik warned.
Neither the state Department of State nor counties will notify voters about registration problems via text, officials said.
For voters that may have questions or not sure what information is accurate, Greene County Election Director Joseph Lemley urged residents to reach out to their local county election offices or go online at pa.vote.gov
“The department of state is providing online resources that are full of rich material that both young and old can use,” Lemley said.