Five weeks away, midterm election carries several important deadlines
Boxes of empty envelopes are sorted according to precinct so the correct ballot goes to the area to which it corresponds.
Election Preview
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
An election workers prepares absentee ballots in the Washington County Elections Office.
The Washington County elections office have begun mailing absentee ballots to the 600 or more voters who have requested them as several deadlines are looming.
Oct. 9 is the statewide registration deadline new voters must meet to be eligible to cast a ballot in the Nov. 6 midterm election. The Washington County elections office will remain open an extra half-hour – until 5 p.m. Oct. 9 – to accept registrations.
To qualify, a person must be a United States citizen at least one month before the Nov. 6 election, and a resident of Pennsylvania and the election district at least 30 days before the election. Those who turn 18 years old on or before Nov. 6 are eligible to register.
Applicants needing to register to vote, or to change their name, address or party affiliation, can use the state’s online process at www.votespa.com. Applicants who have a driver’s license or PennDOT identification card can link their signature on file with PennDOT to their voter record, which will be transferred to the county elections office for processing and approval.
In years past, state officials have asked new registrants not to wait until the last minute.
If the clock is ticking down to 11:59 p.m. and the application of the person hoping to register to vote is missing information, the application might not be completed in time.
Applicants who do not have a Pennsylvania driver’s license or identification card can upload a digital image of their signature and print, sign and mail a copy of the completed online application to the elections office, 100 W. Beau St., Suite 206, Washington, PA 15301.
As of Monday morning, the Washington County elections office had received 471 applications for absentee ballots, with about 200 more to process through today, said Melanie Ostrander, assistant director.
Using a previous year as an indicator, a thousand or more could be in the offing.
On Oct. 1, 2014, the deadline that year, 1,787 ballots were sent out, and 1,586 of those were returned to the elections office.
The very last day to apply for an absentee ballot is Oct. 30, and all domestic absentee ballots must be returned to the elections office at Courthouse Square by 5 p.m. Nov. 2.
Ostrander stressed that the completed absentee ballots must be delivered to the elections office by the deadline. Simply having a postmark from that date on a domestic, civilian absentee ballot does not qualify it to be counted.
Overseas military absentee ballots carry more flexibility. Soldiers and sailors can make a blanket request for an entire calendar year of elections, which this year included two special elections in Washington County.
Eighty-one military absentee ballots had already been sent out as of last week. Members of the military have the opportunity to download a blank ballot they have received by email, print a paper ballot, mark it, and mail it to the elections office with a postmark no later than Nov. 5. The ballot must be back in the elections office by Nov. 13 to be tabulated.
Many youthful voters have been registering online, but Ostrander also received a small stack of voter registrations after the Washington County and West Alexander fairs.
“We’ve also had some people who have been doing registration drives at other events throughout the county,” Ostrander said. “At North Strabane Community Day, Democrats and Republicans both had tables there.
“We’ve not had large stacks coming in from registration drives. Less than 50 is not large, in my opinion,” she said.
The elections office has changed a few polling places for the Nov. 6 election.
Because of its small number of voters, Canton Township has ceased to have a Precinct 3. The former third precinct has been folded into Precinct 1, and voters will report to the street department at 655 Grove Ave. Because two precincts were combined, Washington County now has a total of 175.
In Claysville, voters are to head to the Claysville Volunteer Fire Department, 154 Main St., instead of First Baptist Church.
And in Peters Township, Precinct A-2 voters will no longer go to Our Redeemer Lutheran Church at Gateshead Drive and Washington Road. In a letter to the elections office, the Rev. Ann Schmid noted that because of growing enrollment, Noah’s Ark Preschool needs the area that had been used for voting. Those who live in A-2 should report to Center Presbyterian Church, 255 Center Church Road, where voters from C-3 have been assigned for many years.
Eleven of Washington County’s 175 voting precincts need at least one member for the local election board. They are Canonsburg Second Ward, first precinct; Cecil 2; Charleroi 6; Mt. Pleasant 2; New Eagle 1; North Franklin 3, North Strabane precincts 2 and 4; Union 6; Washington Seventh Ward, third precinct; and West Pike Run 2.
Anyone who is interested in applying for paid positions or who has questions can call the Washington County elections office at 724-228-6750.
Tina Kiger, Greene County director of elections, said she is always in need of people to work at polling places, so anyone who is interested can get in touch with her office.
The Greene County elections office is on the first floor of the Greene County Office Building at 93 E. High St. in Waynesburg. The phone number for the office is 724-852-5230, and the hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.