Sep 26, 2020 4 min read

The Washington County elections office has received 25,362 requests from residents who prefer to vote by mail in the upcoming presidential election, and officials expect to begin mailing ballots on Friday, Oct. 2.

The staff has been inundated by calls from prospective voters, many of of whom signed up online to receive a postal ballot in the June 2 primary and henceforth.

Many, however, did not remember making that request months ago, and when they again signed up to vote by mail, they were sent an email message about duplication, prompting them to call the elections office.

“The phones just ring incessantly,” said one staffer on Friday.

After a state Supreme Court ruled Sept. 17, the Department of State certified the ballot, permitting counties to print them.

But a step in between, said Elections Director Melanie Ostrander and her assistant, Hannah Lindley, was creating a 6,000-mock ballot “test deck” to be run through the office’s two scanners.

The objective was to ascertain that all the information on the ballot, including filled-in ovals, would be read correctly, and that folds in the paper ballots would not interfere with scanning.

The office also had to record audio for voting machines that visually impaired voters could use when casting ballots.

Greene County has a similar timetable, said commission Chairman Mike Belding, who is also chairman of the election board. He said the elections office in Waynesburg will be running its tests on Monday, expecting to also mail ballots during the first week of October.

Washington County’s paper ballots were being printed in Pittsburgh at the same time Ostrander gave the tally of mail-in ballot requests as of Friday. She expects the total could double by the Oct. 27 deadline.

There are laws that apply to the distribution of ballots to members of the military, American civilians who live overseas, and federal employees abroad, and about 200 of these ballots have already gone out to these far-flung Washington County voters, Ostrander said.

In a live-streamed press conference earlier this month, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar noted there are three choices those who are registered to vote by Monday, Oct. 19, have when casting a ballot.

People can vote in person at polling places between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. They can apply for either an absentee or no-excuse mail-in ballot. Or, they can go to their county elections office, request a paper ballot, fill it out on the spot and hand it back.

The third method is what Boockvar said she personally will do this fall.

The early voting in-person option was enacted last year, but in the spring, it was a little-used option due to restrictions put in place because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Ostrander said.

People who chose to visit the elections office in person were to call ahead and make an appointment.

“We can’t have a (voting) machine set up for them,” Ostrander said.

Neither is requesting a ballot at the elections office “an instantaneous process. From start to finish, it takes at least 15 minutes,” she said. “A person must fill out application, and we take it to a computer and process it.”

Depending on where someone lives, ballots may feature different state legislative and Senate races.

“We still have to apply all the appropriate labels, and after someone votes, they have to seal it in appropriate envelopes and sign the declaration,” the elections director continued.

A walk-in does not have to turn in the ballot immediately.

“There’s also a take-home option,” Ostrander said. He or she can take it home and either mail it or bring it back. A voter is to hand-carry his or her own ballot.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court extended the deadline for mail-in ballots postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day to arrive in elections offices. Republicans are appealing the new deadline of Friday, Nov. 6, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Neither Washington nor Greene counties are using drop boxes for ballots outside their office buildings, although Washington County will set up a supervised ballot box on the main floor of Courthouse Square on Election Day because the elections office on the second floor will be extremely busy.

Greene County officials noted the absentee and mail-in ballot return site for the general election will be its elections office in the Greene County Office Building, 93 E. High St., Room 102, Waynesburg, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Greene officials said ballots’ outer envelopes will be stamped with date and time they are dropped off.

Those who need information on accessibility for persons with disabilities are asked to call 724-852-5230 for assistance.