1) Voter registration. - Previously, in order to vote, you had to be registered at least 30 days before the election. That deadline is now 15 days before the election, or April 13. You can register at the county office elections office, with PennDot or online (https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/Pages/VoterRegistrationApplication.aspx.)
2) Voting by Mail. - You can now vote by mail, and may apply for a ballot within fifty days prior to an election. A request to vote by mail must be received by 5 pm on the Tuesday prior to an election. The county must accept the actual ballot so long as it is received by 8 pm on Election Day.
3) Permanent Mail-in voter list. - You can ask to be placed on a permanent mail-in voter list. Voters on this list will receive an application for a ballot in early February.
4) Can You Vote by mail and in person? No. If you've returned a mail-in or absentee ballot, you are ineligible to vote at your polling precinct.
5) Where Will Mail-in and Absentee Ballots be counted? At the elections office, but not until the polls close. Absentee ballots will no longer be counted at voting precincts. Counties have been given the option to select other locations at which voters can drop off ballots, so long as there is security and a chain of custody can be established
6) Straight-party voting. - This feature has finally been eliminated.
In another tweak to the Elections Code, the state legislature has banned the Department of State from decertifying voting systems used by the majority of the counties unless it advises the legislature six months in advance with a justification as well as a plan for paying for a new system. Counties were given no warning when Governor Tom Wolf suddenly decided, as part of a lawsuit settlement, to order all counties to get new systems in time for this year's election.
I smell a rat(s). Something's rotten in Denmark. This opens the door to all kinds of shenanigans.
ReplyDeleteWhen you have voting, you always have shenanigans. But that is not what bothers you. What bothers you is that this might actually increase voter turn out. So far, that has not been the case in other jurisdictions that have adopted home rule.
ReplyDeleteI can see possible mischief in just about every voting situation, including the one we were using.
Why eliminate straight party voting? I'm pro-choice on all things. The government should not limit my options. More options are always better. My vote is a very personal matter of conscience, and they have no business in it. Stop controlling us like children.
ReplyDeleteThe government is not limiting, but expanding, your options. Now, instead of pulling the lever, you can decide every race. Partisans, especially partisan Dems, opposed this measure., In fact, Wolf originally vetoed this bill. States that have eliminated straight party voting have seen no change in how people voted before elimination. Currently, only seven states still have straight party voting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight-ticket_voting
ReplyDeleteWhat steps are in place to prevent "ballot harvesting?" like we have seen (legally) in CA and (illegally) in NC?
ReplyDeleteI agree with eliminating straight party voting. Politics is never that simple to manage.
ReplyDeleteNow, it seems one can receive a ballot and cast their vote 50 days ahead. So, what happens to that ballot from the day it is received? Immediately checked for validity and recorded someplace? Held in a secure box without any critique until Election Day? Immediately destroyed after officially counted despite as much as 50 days before Election Day?
Finally, let’s assume Northampton County receives 5000 mail-in ballots. Can any winner be announced within just a few hours of 8pm Election Night?
You won't receive a ballot 50 days before the election. You can receive an application for a ballot. The ballot will come later, hopefully not long after. The ballot has to be certified first. You will get it no later than two weeks before the election. You fill it out and send it in, just like an absentee ballot. They are kept secure by the elections office until polls close on election day.
ReplyDeleteThe counties do keep records. For each absentee or mail-in, counties must keep a record of the following dates:
the date the county receives the application
the date the application is approved or rejected
the date the county mails or delivers the ballot and
the date the completed ballot is received
The county will be able to count the mail-ins via a scanner, starting election night. Hoe long this takes will be a function of the number of mail-ins. Voters should have a good idea of the winners from those who voted at the polls, but closer races will be determined by the count of mail-ins and absentees.
Appreciate the information, Bernie ! THIS is the kind of assurance the public needs to see . . . and soon.
ReplyDeleteBallot harvesting is a term used to describe the practice in which party bosses and party activists collect absentee ballots and file them together at the elections office. It might also apply to voter registrations.
ReplyDeleteI am unsure whether the practice of filing multiple voter registrations together will stop. This is done by parties, but is also done by colleges and high schools as a result of registration drives.
At the last meeting of the Elections Comm'n, Solicitor Rick Santee said that only the voter will be permitted to return a mail-in or absentee ballot, with some exceptions for unusual circumstances. The elections office has yet to formalize a procedure, but that should come down very soon, possibly today. There should be no ballot harvesting.
We do not want pressures on people to vote with their tribes. On the other hand, we want people to vote.
Ballot harvesting is a concern because boxes of ballots found in someone’s trunk have been accepted after the polls closed (California) and perhaps, counted without adequate time to validate them.
ReplyDeleteIn Pa, that would be illegal because (1) ballots may not be accepted after polls close; (2) mail-in ballots must come from the voter or a designated agent.
ReplyDelete209,000 votes elegal in Wisconsin now if PA would do some dummied down work.
ReplyDelete"209,000 votes elegal in Wisconsin now if PA would do some dummied down work."
ReplyDeletePlease comment in English or French. I am unable to speak idiot.
I grew up in Allentown but I now live in Oregon. Oregon has 100% mail in voting. It does increase turnout and it's very nice to sit at my dining room table and look at my voter's guide while I'm filling out my ballot. All the political parties in Oregon support this method of voting and there hasn't been any problems with it in the 12 years I've lived here. On the other hand, it rains every freaking day from October to May and I'm growing moss on my head to replace the hair I once had.
ReplyDeleteThere haven't been any problems that you're aware of. The whole thing sounds a bit shady to me.
DeleteSend some of that moss to me!
ReplyDeleteThe next two elections will be marked by many attempts of ballot tampering, all across this nation. We’ll have some to handle right here in Northampton County. Possibly, more than ever before. Why? The Globalists, the Money Launderers working within Congress, and the Socialist/Communists have shown they will stop at nothing to control the outcome of key elections.
ReplyDeleteAll we can do is cast our single vote. Then sit back and hope it will matter. Scary times.
Once again our own US intelligence has detected the Russian secret section attempting to disrupt our 2020 election. Of course the President will deny it as fake news and tell us that Vladimir is more trustworthy than our own intelligence service. Here we go again.
ReplyDelete