Westmoreland elections officials: 'Number of residents' have not received mail-in, absentee ballots
While nearly 50,000 mail-in ballots from Westmoreland voters have been returned to the county’s Election Bureau, a number of residents have not received the mail-in or absentee ballot they requested.
County officials said as of Wednesday, 71,852 of 74,648 ballots had been delivered to the U.S. Postal Service to be mailed; 49,631 have been returned. Those numbers did not include ballot applications processed Tuesday, the final day an application could be accepted.
For voters who have not received a requested ballot, the county advised the following:
• If you applied prior to the deadline Tuesday, Oct. 27, go to the Election Bureau in Greensburg, where the original ballot will be voided and a new ballot will be issued. Ballots can be completed there or at home and returned by mail, in-person or at a drop box.
• You can vote at your polling place on Election Day. If you receive a ballot prior to the election, bring the entire packet (the ballot and all envelopes) to the polling place to be voided. Voters will need to sign a declaration confirming they are surrendering the ballot and voting in person.
• If you do not surrender your ballot or sign the declaration, you may only vote using a paper provisional ballot at your polling place. You also can vote with a provisional ballot at your polling place if you have not received a requested mail-in ballot, thus having nothing to surrender to poll workers.
The status of provisional ballots can be checked beginning seven days after the election at PAVoterServices.pa.gov or by calling 877-VOTES-PA. Voters must provide their provisional ballot ID number, which is on the provisional ballot receipt.
The county has experienced a weeklong delay in the start of voting after mass-mailing company Midwest Direct did not begin sending out more than 58,000 ballots on time in early October.
The Westmoreland County commissioners last month agreed to pay Cleveland-based Mid-West Direct up to $170,000 to coordinate and mail ballots to voters.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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