Voting By Mail: Is Allegheny County Prepared For The Onslaught?

PITTSBURGH, PA — With no end in sight to the coronavirus outbreak, state officials have predicted that as many as 50 percent of Pennsylvania voters will cast their ballot by mail in November. It's a safer way to vote than going to public polling places.

But is Allegheny County prepared for that possibility?

County officials point to the success they had in the June 2 primary as evidence they can handle an onslaught of mail-in votes in November. But they acknowledge the number of votes expected to be cast in the battle between President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden likely will be considerably greater than the number of votes cast in the primary.

"The state had estimated that we could potentially see 250,000 mail-in ballots for the November election, but we exceeded that number in June," said Dave Voye, manager of the county elections division. "We received 280,000-plus applications with over 218,000 returned. We could potentially see 500,000 applications in November."

Counting those votes as quickly as possible countywide and statewide is critical, as Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state that could help determine the election's outcome.

The Keystone State's 20 electoral votes are tied for fifth-most and Pennsylvania was one of three traditionally blue states that propelled Trump to victory in 2016. Trump, in fact, was the first Republican presidential candidate to win Pennsylvania since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

But Trump's margin of victory over Hillary Clinton was razor-thin. More than six million votes were cast in Pennsylvania and Trump won by 44,000 - or less than one percent. Even a
minuscule voter shift could tip the state to Biden.

Whether that will happen in November might not be immediately certain. Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar has acknowledged that come Nov. 3, America might not know who has been elected president.

"It's the million-dollar question,"Boockvar recently told NPR .

It's also a question that Trump does not want answered via mail.

In June, Trump's re-election campaign, the Republican National Committee and several GOP Pennsylvania congressmen sued state and county elections officials. The lawsuit was filed against
against Boockvar and the boards of elections of the state's 67 counties.

Joining the Trump campaign and the RNC as plaintiffs in the case were Republican U.S. Reps. Glenn Thompson, Mike Kelly, John Joyce and Guy Reschenthaler.

The lawsuit contends that upending the election process and undermining ballot security is the single greatest threat to free and fair elections.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants have "sacrificed the sanctity of in-person voting at the altar of unmonitored mail-in voting," exponentially enhancing the threat that fraudulent or otherwise ineligible ballots will be cast and counted in the upcoming general election.

In Allegheny County, elections division manager Voye noted there were no substantial issues tallying votes in the primary.

"Allegheny County actually received national recognition for its handling and counting of mail-in ballots and election results," he said. "The mail-in ballots were completed in under 24 hours, approximately 2:30 a.m. on June 3, with the in-person ballots being completed later that afternoon."

Voye said the county ballot-counting process largely will remain the same in Novemeber unless changes are made by the state Legislature.

"There are discussions at the state about allowing us to open the envelopes for the mail-in ballots
and begin the counting earlier, although results would not be posted or available until after polls close on Election Day," he said. "How long it will take will depend on the number of ballots, the number of staff and any potential changes to the rules for beginning that count."

The count will be is done by county staff and temporary employees who are brought on for election season under the supervision of elections officials.

"As was done in the spring, we will run through all scenarios and make changes and adjustments to our processes as we identify issues or things that could be improved," Voye said.