Delco Gearing Up For Increased Mail-In Voting In November

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — The coronavirus pandemic has forced many changes across the globe and in the United States. And the U.S. is facing a presidential election in November amid the pandemic.

Officials in Delaware County are preparing for a different kind of election, as mail-in ballots are predicted to surge due to the virus.

The Delaware County Bureau of Elections is anticipating 175,000 mail in and absentee ballots for the general election on Nov. 3.

How that many votes will be counted is to be determined, according to officials.

The bureau is considering a few options, including going to three shifts for the count so that it will be 24 hours a day until all ballots are counted.

Increased staff and equipment will be used to speed up the ballot logging process.

Officials are also considering having additional high speed scanners to aid the effort.

Counting all the mail-in and absentee ballots could up to two weeks if the county gets the estimated 175,000 ballots.

The Delaware County Democratic Committee and the Delaware County GOP are hopeful about the election process, but with different views and opinions on how it will take place given the pandemic.

"The advantage of vote by mail include health benefits, and plenty of time at home to look up information about any candidate the voter may have question about," Delaware County Democratic Committee Chair Colleen Guiney told Patch. The county Dems are encouraging voters who want to vote by mail to apply early.

Guiney said she is voting by mail.

Tom McGarrigle, chairman of the Delaware County GOP, said he will be voting in person and that the party is not encouraging main-in voting.

He said the party is concerned with how lax mail in voting is.

" Are we checking where they are coming from," he said of mail-in ballots.

McGarrigle said the problems Delaware County saw in the primary election were the same seen across the country and that the GOP is working to address any problems with voting in November.

The Democrats have been holding public meetings online and have been in contact with the Bureau of Elections regarding election security.

Both parties said poll watchers are integral to election security.

When asked about fears regarding the election, McGarrigle and Guiney both said getting the vote out is their prime concern.

"My only concern is that there may be some voters who think their vote does not matter," Guiney said. I urge all Delaware County residents to get out and vote - for all the candidates up and down the ballot. Some races are determined by a narrow margin, and each vote could be the decisive one!"

McGarrigle said while it's important to reelect President Donald Trump, he wants to ensure Republican voters are casting local ballots.

"We have to try to get the president reelected," he said. "But we need to elect state senators and state representatives."

McGarrigle said "November is a lifetime away in politics," and up until then the Bureau of Elections is planning to launch a voter education campaign to help voters understand how to fill out and return their ballots, which may speed up the counting process by creating fewer ballot issues to resolve.