Oct 12, 2015 3 min read

State statistics for Washington and Greene counties show that nearly 500 people took advantage of the new online voter registration to either register to vote or change information.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes stopped by the Washington County elections office last week as part of a swing through Westmoreland and Butler counties to induct several people into the Voter Hall of Fame based on their never missing a November election for 50 straight years.

“He has made it a goal to visit all 67 counties,” said Wanda Murren, spokeswoman for the Department of State.

The state rolled out online registration in late August, and the newly registered will have their first chance to vote Nov. 3.

Washington County had 434 applications, including 289 new voters and 145 who chose to make changes in their registration information. The breakdown of those performing these tasks online included 193 Democrats, 201 Republicans and 40 independents or third-party members.

“We’re going to see how it unfolds in this election,” said Larry Spahr, Washington County elections director. “It’s really a wait-and-see.”

Even after the state started online voter registration, people still arrived in person at the elections office to sign up.

Washington County, as of the close of registration Oct. 5, has a total of 128,745 voters, according to state statistics, including 67,254 Democrats and 47,220 Republicans.

Greene County Elections Director Tina Kiger called the online registration process a success and likened it to the digital applications her office receives through the state Department of Transportation when a person gets a driver’s license renewal and wants to register or change information. The report comes into the office’s computer system and can be easily verified before approved, Kiger said.

“They’re doing very well,” Kiger said. “Everything is on (the computer), where with the paper applications, you have to import everything. It’s been very smooth. We just have to verify.”

So far, the Greene County elections office has received 61 applications through the online feature, 36 of which were for new voter registrations, Kiger said. Of those new voter registrations, 13 were Republicans, eight were Democrats and 15 new voters registered as unaffiliated or independent. The state’s spreadsheet shows Greene County with 65 new applicants or those making changes in affiliation or address, for example. A breakdown of the total reflects 19 Democrats, 38 Republicans and eight who are either independent of a party or who chose a third party.

There were also three address changes, two name changes and 13 party changes in the process, she said.

One person also sent information notifying the office they were moving to another county.

Greene County, according to state statistics, has a total of 21,208 voters as of the close of registration Oct. 5, including 12,867 Democrats and 6,497 Republicans.

In each county, online registration attracted the greatest numbers in the age 17 to 24 category. One must be 18 on or before Nov. 3 to be eligible to vote this year.