Democrats encourage mail-in ballot voters to drop off Downtown, and skip the mail
Share this post:
Prominent local Democrats led by Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner and County Council member Bethany Hallam have released a video, with a rocking guitar soundtrack, urging voters to get their mail-in ballots turned in on time.
The 90-second informational video, called “Bring It,” refers to mail-in ballot packages still in the hands of voters. The video encourages voters to bring their mail-in ballots to the County Office Building, Downtown, to submit to the Elections Division — rather than trusting in the U.S. Postal Service at this point.
The second message is: If voters who received a mail-in ballot decide they’d rather vote in person Nov. 3, they’ve got to bring it all to the polling place — the ballot, the mailing envelope and the secrecy envelope (the plain envelope marked with the words “Official Election Ballot”).
— Controller Wagner (@AC_Controller) October 27, 2020
Nationally and locally, far more Democrats have requested mail-in ballots than Republicans. In Allegheny County, about 287,500 Democrats applied, compared with 80,700 Republicans. (Those figures include mail-in, absentee, overseas and military ballots.) In Pennsylvania, about 1.9 million Democrats requested mail-in ballots, while the GOP number is near 760,000. Some 350,000 are registered independents or third-party voters.
“We’ve each encountered many voters who now prefer to vote in person on Election Day, but who earlier applied for mail-in ballots,” Wagner and Hallam said in a joint statement. “These voters may not be aware that state law requires mail-in ballot packages to be submitted in full to vote in person at your regular polling place on Election Day.”
“If you show up on Election Day and your voter record indicates you have applied for a mail-in ballot but you do not have the entire ballot package with you, you will have to vote by a Provisional Ballot, which cannot be counted before further investigation by the Elections Division,” Wagner and Hallam said. “While Provisional Ballots are a useful tool under exceptional circumstances, no voter should rely on them this Election Day while other options remain.”
In other forums, Democrats are discouraging voters with mail-in ballots to show up at polls on Election Day and seek to vote. Since the process takes several steps, they fear that delays will clog the system. To void the mail-in ballot, the voter must fill out a form to “surrender” the ballot, which also must be signed by the Judge of Elections at the polling place.
Democrats are urging voters to take advantage of the extended hours announced last week for submitting their mail-in ballots in the lobby of the County Office Building, 542 Forbes Ave., Downtown. The extended hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Nov. 2 — including Saturday and Sunday — and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot was close of business Oct. 27, and voter registration ended Oct. 19. But voters who already have applied for a mail-in ballot but don’t have it — whether lost, discarded or unarrived — may seek a new ballot and vote at the County Office Building. The office at the County Elections Division is open during regular business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Oct. 28-30, Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 (Election Day).
Wagner and Hallam are urging voters to take advantage of remaining early voting options.
“We hope all voters who can will do their part to help our polling place workers run a smooth, safe election by utilizing the County Office Building drop box if possible,” Wagner and Hallam said.