Election category, Page 128
Westmoreland swamped with mail-in ballots
The action on primary day won’t just be at the polls. Westmoreland County elections officials on Tuesday morning will start counting what could be more than 40,000 mail-in ballots sent in advance of the primary. Republican and Democratic voters will nominate candidates for U.S. president, Congress, state attorney general, auditor...
Demand for mail-in ballots makes for unpredictable Pennsylvania primary
A primary election like none other in state history awaits Pennsylvania voters Tuesday, when those who have not contributed to the flood of mail-in ballots may encounter new machines designed to improve security by creating a paper record. Polling places in some counties have been moved or consolidated to cope...
Pandemic primary features no contested races in Westmoreland, but record mail-in ballotsVideo
More than 30,000 votes have already been cast in Westmoreland County ahead of Tuesday’s primary, where there are few contested races for more than a dozen state and federal offices. What was once anticipated to be a significant day for politics because of a contentious Democratic presidential primary has since...
5 things to watch in Tuesday’s primary
Primary elections are typically low-interest affairs among Pennsylvania’s registered voters, but Tuesday’s contest is fraught with plot twists because of the coronavirus pandemic and could shape up to be one for the record books. A high volume of mail-in ballots is drawing predictions of high turnout for a primary despite...
Westmoreland County still needs poll workers for Tuesday’s primary election
With five days left before the June 2 presidential primary, Westmoreland County still needs to fill poll worker jobs at dozens of precincts. County officials last week announced it needed to fill as many as 100 jobs at the polls. While many of those positions have since been filled, vacancies...
Election HQ: Information on primary races in Western Pa.
Primary election day in Western Pennsylvania is Tuesday, June 2. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and voters are asked to wear a mask and practice social distancing inside polling places because of the coronavirus pandemic. In Allegheny County, your polling place might not be where it...
Mail-in ballots expected to drive high turnout in Allegheny, Westmoreland
Allegheny County is on track to see high voter turnout as mail-in and absentee ballot applications for the June 2 primary exceeded expectations. The county has processed more than 280,000 ballot applications, with a little fewer than 5,000 applications coming in just before the deadline Tuesday, said Elections Division Manager...
Joe Biden’s VP search puts spotlight on how long he’ll serve
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden has longed to win the White House for more than three decades. If he finally makes it there after November’s election, he’s already talking about leaving. In an effort to ease concerns about his age, the 77-year-old presumptive Democratic nominee has said he wouldn’t seek reelection...
Homeless tax in Portland, Ore., tests voter mood in pandemic
PORTLAND, Ore. — Voters in metropolitan Portland, Oregon, will be asked Tuesday to approve taxes on personal income and business profits that would raise $2.5 billion over a decade to fight homelessness even as the state grapples with the coronavirus and its worst recession in years. The ballot measure was...
Election security experts urge Pennsylvania to begin planning for expanded mail-in voting this fall
With the Pennsylvania primary three weeks away, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security say the state must begin planning immediately for secure balloting in the Nov. 3 presidential election. “Bold action is needed on nearly every front here in Pennsylvania, in the United...
U.S.: Russia could try to covertly advise candidates in 2020
WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security and FBI warned states earlier this year that Russia could look to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections by covertly advising political candidates and campaigns, according to a law enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press. The Feb. 3 document details tactics U.S....
Polish government gets pushback on postal presidential vote
WARSAW — The Polish government’s determination to move forward with a scheduled presidential election next month by making it an all-postal vote has sparked anxiety and anger amid the coronavirus pandemic, with critics slamming the plan as a threat to the health of both the public and Poland’s democracy. Health...
Allegheny County to send mail-in ballot forms to every voter; Gov. Wolf mulls pleas for mail-only election
Allegheny County elections officials have begun sending every resident eligible to vote in the June 2 primary election an application for a mail-in ballot — whether or not they requested one. Citing concerns over the highly contagious coronavirus , Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is urging everyone to consider voting...
Applications for mail-in ballots surge as lockdown continues
Applications for mail-in ballots are surging across Pennsylvania, even as President Trump repeatedly condemns mail-in voting as a scheme that could hamper GOP chances to prevail at the polls. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, the number of applications for mail-in ballots increased from 179,172 on April 1 to...
Kentucky governor vetoes voter ID bill
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday vetoed a bill pushed by Republican lawmakers to require Kentucky residents to show a government-issued photo ID in order to vote. In his veto message, the governor said the measure would create an obstacle to voting, resulting in fewer people casting...
How will we vote? Outbreak revives debate on mail-in ballots
OLYMPIA, Wash. — As the coronavirus pandemic knocks primary election after primary election off schedule, Democrats argue the outbreak shows the country needs to move toward one of their longtime goals — widespread voting by mail — to protect the November election. But Democrats’ hopes for using the crisis to...
Mail-in voting proving popular in areas hardest hit by coronavirus
A lot of Pennsylvanians plan to vote by mail in the postponed spring primary. State officials said Wednesday that applications to vote by mail have topped 129,000. State lawmakers voted to move the primary to June 2, a postponement expected to be approved by Gov. Tom Wolf. The five-week delay...
Pennsylvania eyes later primary as coronavirus outbreak continues
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is confirming another big increase in coronavirus cases Sunday as lawmakers are drafting legislation to delay the state’s April 28 primary election and relax rules around how mail-in ballots can be processed in advance of polls closing. Pennsylvania House State Government Committee Chairman Garth Everett, R-Lycoming, said...
Election limbo as coronavirus outbreak upends U.S. primaries
ATLANTA — U.S. elections have been upended by the coronavirus pandemic. At least 13 states have postponed voting and more delays are possible as health officials warn that social distancing and other measures to contain the virus might be in place for weeks, if not months. The states that have...
Trump’s ‘coup de grâce’? Coronavirus tests a divided America
LARGO, Fla. — As restaurants across the country stacked chairs on tables and shut their doors to try to contain the deadly coronavirus, what would be the final visitors streamed into the Conservative Grounds coffee shop in Largo, Fla. Fox News played on the televisions. Patrons posed for photos in...
Alabama delays March 31 GOP Senate runoff to July 14
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama is postponing a closely watched Republican primary runoff between former U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions and a formidable rival because of the coronavirus, the governor announced Wednesday. The Senate runoff between Sessions and former football coach Tommy Tuberville will now be held on July 14 instead of...
Pennsylvania primary could be postponed due to coronavirus, though law remains murky
With presidential primaries on hold because of public health concerns in Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland and Ohio, Pennsylvania’s primary scheduled for April 28 could well be the next postponed because of the coronavirus. As voters undeterred by the threat of exposure cast ballots Tuesday in special elections in three Pennsylvania...
With 3 more victories, Biden pulls further away from Sanders
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden swept to victory in Florida, Illinois and Arizona on Tuesday, increasingly pulling away with a Democratic presidential primary upended by the coronavirus and building pressure on Bernie Sanders to abandon his campaign. The former vice president’s third big night in as many weeks came amid tremendous...
Ohio Democratic Party sues over delay of primary election
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Politicians of all stripes expressed frustration Tuesday after Ohio’s primary was postponed until June by the state’s elected officials amid concerns attendance at polling places would contribute to the coronavirus pandemic. The Ohio Democratic Party sued Tuesday afternoon over Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s decision to set...
Ohio scraps Democratic primary, Florida workers a no-show
WASHINGTON — The Democratic presidential primary is consumed with uncertainty after leaders in Ohio called off Tuesday’s election just hours before polls were set to open, citing the need to combat the new coronavirus. Officials in Florida, Arizona and Illinois said they would move forward with the vote — but...
