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PITTSBURGH — Yes, counties still need more time before Election Day to process mail ballots. And while you’re at it, Harrisburg, please adjust the deadlines for voters applying for mail ballots.
County election officials brought their wish lists to a panel moderated by Votebeat Pennsylvania reporter Carter Walker at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University Monday. The event was hosted by Keep Our Republic, a nonpartisan nonprofit whose mission is strengthening elections.
The panelists were Chet Harhut, deputy manager of the Allegheny County Elections Division; Sherene Hess, Indiana County commissioner and board president of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania; and Melanie Ostrander, Washington County elections director.
Here are highlights of the conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.
What were you most worried about ahead of the 2024 election?
Hess: The over-the-counter, on-demand mail ballots. That matter caused so much consternation for our counties. In Indiana County, we didn’t have an enormous amount of problems with it, but it strained us considerably. Other counties, it was more than that. It was a real test. I heard many, many stories. So I would say that that was certainly the most challenging thing, or one of the most challenging things in 2024.
Reflecting back, what do you think went well, and why?
Ostrander: The mail-ballot processing, the pre-canvassing, we did very well with this process. We had four years from the original implementation [of no-excuse mail voting] in 2020 to perfect our process, so we were prepared. We kind of came up with a formula that we use when we get volunteers to assist us in opening the ballots and preparing them for scanning. We have one volunteer for every 1,000 ballots we receive. So we had just under 30,000 ballots received in Washington County, and we were able to have this done prior to the polls closing at 8 o’clock.
We recently saw a bill pass the state House that would eliminate the date requirement for [mail ballot envelopes], implement early voting, and require ballot drop boxes, among other things. Can you talk about which aspects of that bill would be helpful for election officials, and where there is room for improvement?
Ostrander: If we could have the mail ballots where we have more time to pre-canvass, it would free up our staff and allow for better management. … If true early voting is not something that the Legislature is able to agree on, moving that deadline for [applying for] mail ballots back to the 15 days to coincide with the registration deadline would be a great help as well.
(Editor's note: HB 1396, the measure that recently passed the state House, includes both of these proposals. Election officials frequently note that the current mail ballot application deadline, which is one week before Election Day, is too close for mail delivery and frequently leads to ballots being returned late.)
Hess: The concerns [that election officials have about the bill] are a lack of funding to expand those things, and the minimum requirements in there could be concerning for some counties.
One of the complaints election officials have mentioned is that the bill would require countries to have at least two drop boxes the drop box requirement. Could you explain why that might be a challenge for some rural counties?
Hess: Especially the rural counties. There’s monitoring requirements. There’s personnel needed. There are any number of things like that. Geographical constraints that might exist and staffing constraints. Those kinds of things don’t seem like much at the time, but multiply them and yes, you've got an issue.
With the improvement that we saw in counties’ ability to count mail ballots, do you think we still need pre-canvassing?
Hess: Yes, and the County Commissioners Association has been advocating for that for several years now — that, and adjusting the application deadline for the mail ballots to have a little more processing time. So yes, I think pre-canvassing is still an important element of all this, because you’re essentially running three elections on Election Day. So that’s a challenge under the best circumstances. So whatever can be done to give time to lessen the stress, to lessen the notion that something fraudulent is going on. Whatever we can do as leaders, wherever we can take the uncertainty out of the process, that’s what we need to do.
The state Senate has been clear that no election reform will pass without new voter ID requirements as a part of the deal. From a logistical perspective, how would counties implement such a requirement, assuming it is similar to our current first-time voter requirements? Would you need a phase-in period to educate voters and train poll workers?
Harhut: We just have to stress the [poll worker] training. Not everybody’s required to go to training — [that] is part of the problem. So I think we would have to at least do some kind of supplemental small training on just that portion of the ID thing. But there will be a lot of confusion out there for sure, and you’re going to have the voters that don’t want to do it. It’ll also slow things down even more probably at polling places — another thing to check, another thing to get confused on. So all those factors will come into play, but we’ll just have to deal with it as it comes.
We recently held our municipal primary election, and turnout was dismally low. Lawmakers have for years considered opening our primaries to independent voters. What logistical challenges would this pose for election officials that Harrisburg should consider?
Harhut: Electronic poll books would probably help, and I think they're part of the [House election] bill, and some funding for them. Some people want independents to vote, and some people don’t. There’s a whole faction of people out there that are true party believers and they don’t want somebody else messing with their primary. But I think it’s generally a good thing to get more people involved. I mean, we only had a 25% turnout. A lot of work goes into having 25% of people show up to vote. So I think it would expand that a little bit. We’re open to stuff like that. It’ll just take a little time to implement.
What is the biggest challenge Pennsylvania counties will face in the 2026 and 2028 federal elections?
Harhut: I guess what’s always on my mind is some of the stuff we’ve talked about: The changes [to state election law] that are coming down. Sometimes the stuff comes out of Harrisburg and you think, “Wow, what were they thinking?” But we’ll deal with it. Whatever they throw our way, we’ll have to deal with it.
Ostrander: I would like to see the change to the mail-in ballot deadline to coincide with the registration deadline. I think that would be a big help not only to the election offices but to the voters also. With those voters who wait until the last day to apply, the Postal Service is not delivering mail as quickly as they did in the past.
Hess: I would concur with all of those things, [and add that fewer people are becoming poll workers], and the pace at which technology is moving is frightening a lot of them, especially in our rural areas, maybe even the urban areas as well. So whatever support we can provide for poll workers, they’re really the lifeline of our elections, and also support for our staff. There’s so much stress, maybe a little less now through the years, but we see that strain. So if there’s anything I could say to our friends in the Legislature and the governor’s office, it is “keep on working with us.”
Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org.