Allegheny County leads state in mail-in balloting; more expected in November

Faced with the coronavirus pandemic and the prospect of long lines at sharply reduced polling places, Allegheny County voters led the state in embracing Pennsylvania’s new mail-in voting option.

A new report by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania found nearly one in three Allegheny County voters requested a mail-in ballot for the June 2 primary. The county led the state with 31.2% of voters requesting mail-in ballots. Montgomery, Luzerne and Chester counties were close at 27.1%, 25.2% and 24.9%, respectively.

Statewide, more than 1.8 million voters — about 21% of those eligible — opted to take advantage of the state’s first election featuring mail-in voting.

That number grew steadily in the days leading up to the primary, despite President Trump’s assertions that mail-in voting is rife with potential for fraud.

RIGGED 2020 ELECTION: MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND OTHERS. IT WILL BE THE SCANDAL OF OUR TIMES!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020

Allegheny County’s decision to send every registered voter an application for a mail-in ballot, coupled with its decision to reduce the number of polling places by about 85%, likely contributed to its high request for mail-in ballots, said Christopher DeLuzio, who has studied elections for the University of Pittsburgh’s Center on Cyber Law, Policy and Security.

Allegheny County processed 280,704 absentee ballot applications, compared with 225,838 in Philadelphia, which boasts about 178,000 more registered voters.

In Westmoreland County, where the Board of Elections maintained its regular polling places and commissioners opted against sending out applications for mail-in ballots, about 20% of voters applied for the option.

Strong participation in the more populous counties in Eastern Pennsylvania, which had a heavier load of covid-19 cases, balanced out weaker mail-in balloting in more rural areas, where there were few reports of coronavirus infections, the study found.

In rural Fulton County, on the state’s Maryland border, only 10% of the voters applied for absentee ballots. Closer to home, 15.6% of Fayette County voters opted for mail-in ballots, while 13.8% selected that option in Armstrong County.

But with its first mail-in optional election complete and no signs of the coronavirus disappearing, many believe mail-in balloting will play a larger role in November’s presidential election, when an additional 1.2 million unaffiliated or third-party voters barred from Pennsylvania’s closed party primaries can vote.

The Hill reported that a recent Gallup Poll found 64% of Americans favored voting by mail this fall, including 83% of Democrats surveyed, 68% of independents and 40% of Republicans.

Political consultant Alan Novak, former chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee, said he suspects both parties will encourage mail-in balloting as they mount a growing effort to tap every resource available to boost voter turnout in November.

“If I were sitting in a room right now, I’d be saying, ‘It appears that the other side is going to do it, so it would behoove you to do it as well,’ ” Novak said.

Mary Beth Kuznik, a Westmoreland County judge of election and founder of VotePA, said county election officials need to start preparing now to ensure they have a safe, efficient process in place by November.

“I’m concerned that we could be in the throes of another wave of the virus in November and that the number of mail-in votes may be even higher. We need to be able to ensure that people get their ballots on time,” she said. “I spoke with a woman from Delaware County who had ordered her mail-in ballot and still didn’t have it on Election Day. We need to do everything we can to ensure that doesn’t happen and that poll workers are adequately protected.”