PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - Allegheny County Board of Elections member and County Councilman Sam DeMarco has described it as a perfect storm. He's talking about the combination of new voting machines, a new mail-in ballot system, and COVID-19. But county elections Manager David Voye seems ready to face that storm. He's been facing it for weeks.
"It's pretty chaotic," Voye said in an online session Wednesday with media and viewers on Facebook. "We currently have three shifts running. We probably have four times our normal staff."
Voye said the Elections Department has processed 200,000 mail-in ballot applications so far. "The response has been overwhelming." He says that number of ballots cast would equate to 25% turnout. "And we were only expecting a 22% turnout for this election. We've already apexed what we expected."
One of the complaints officials have heard is that people who requested ballots haven't yet received them. Voye says there is a lag from when the state notifies people by email that their ballot has been mail, and when the county actually sends it out four to five days later. However, he suggests if it's been more than two weeks since the notice was received, residents should contact the elections office by phone at 412-350-4518 or by email at web.com@alleghenycounty.us.
In his online presentation Voye described a chain of custody that is designed to protect ballot box security. Because the number of polling places has been consolidated in the pandemic, the new paper ballots will not be scanned at the precinct. Instead, election officials will drive the locked ballot boxes to a central warehouse on the North Side where they will be scanned and counted after the polls close. Mail-in ballots will be scanned starting at 7 am election day.
Voye says each household in the county will receive a postcard describing where their relocated polling place is. The information is also available on the county website. While there was a concern about having enough poll workers election day, Voye says they will have the 13-hundred to 14-hundred needed.
Voters are asked to bring two things to the polls if they will vote in person. A mask, although they will be allowed to vote without one. Voters should also bring their own blue or black ink pen to mark the ballot. Pens will be available at the polling place but voters are asked to bring their own to prevent spread of the virus.
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