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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Grandpa Armstrong Explains MIBs



Not long ago, I called Lehigh County Exec Phil Armstrong the Grandpa of the Lehigh Valley. I love his periodic updates, which are always informative and delivered in a folksy style. His topic on Friday was the upcoming Presidential and mail-in ballots (MIBs).

Armstrong explained there are two ways to vote - in person at your local precinct or by mail-in ballot, which you can mail or hand deliver to the elections office.

What about MIBs? Will it get there?

"There are all kinds of people now really worried about mailing in their ballot, and having it get here. Well, November 3 is the Election Day. ... I have a lot of confidence in our postal system. I know my mortgage bill came on time. I know my credit card bill came on time and the package my wife ordered in the mail came on time. So the mail is getting through. "

Armstrong noted that elections officials have yet to mail out the ballots. "The official ballots going out won't be going out until we get the official word on who's on the ballot and we can print them."  He estimates they will go out the last week in September or first week in October.

"Get it in the mail by October 20th and you will have absolutely no worries," he recommends, adding that the county might open up on Saturdays near Election Day for those who want to hand-deliver their ballots.

"Send it in, go to the polls or come here.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is no problem getting returned ballots through the mail. The problem is what happens when the ballots are handled later. Again, this is a nationwide matter. The handling of ballots at our local level can be absolutely perfect. If so, congratulations!

If the next election is to be stolen, it can be accomplished without the Lehigh Vallley results even being considered. It’s nice to hear such confidence in how our voting will go here, but it is of no indication how prepared and true the plans are in, say, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin.
So much can be determined about the next President and the Congress by failing to be prepared due to have no national standards of proper conduct.

At a time when state and local officials sit back, do nothing while watching their cities be destroyed, what makes anyone believe those same operatives would never ‘look the other way’ around election time?

These thoughts provided by just another anonymous kook.

Anonymous said...

There is no excuse for the destruction of property and lives in a number of cities. Why the local residents don't vote the mayors or leaders of these areas out is not something I can understand. When you keep putting the same parties in, you can't expect different results. Our schools and communities fail because we fail. Stop listening to people who label you victims. Show up at the polls and there will be no problem with too many ballots in the mail. I recognize that there are some immunocompromised people that are wary. But everywhere I go people are out shopping and participating in activities and going on vacations and working. You would not believe it by the news but many people never stopped working or have now returned to work. You wear your mask, have sanitizer at the ready, and if you have sick folks at home you can even change clothes immediately and employ other infection control measures. I bet a lot of the whiners are those that never had the "time" or inclination in past years to get their behinds there. All we do is whine, whine, whine. Since so many teachers are going to be working many less hours, they may consider volunteering at polls to relieve the seniors who somehow get their butts there each year. Get a grip! Try voting in a country where you might get shot or beaten for showing up at the polls and then tell me your troubles.

Anonymous said...

It's hard to dislike this guy, he is either a genuine on the level good guy or an excellent politician, it's impossible to be both.

Anonymous said...

If i can pay my taxes by mail i can vote by mail.

Anonymous said...

1031
" Show up at the polls and there will be no problem with too many ballots in the mail."
The problem is that some states are reducing the number of polling places-- the excuse is staffing and corona concerns.The reality is an attempt at voter suppression by reducing the number of polling places to make voting difficult.
Georgia did this as well as Arizona.
In Georgia waiting four hours to vote was not unusual.Some people were in line for eight hours.
"But everywhere I go people are out shopping and participating in activities and going on vacations and working." but they are not waiting four hours to go into Walmart or WAWA.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"It's hard to dislike this guy, he is either a genuine on the level good guy or an excellent politician, it's impossible to be both"

I think it's the former. On the weekend before the election, he was in NorCo for a meeting about redistricting. Instead of trying to pick up last-minute votes, he was in another county. I remember telling him he was in the wrong county. He ended up winning, and rather convincingly.

Anonymous said...

He is a damn site more sincere and pleasantly honest than McClure. Wish we had him here in Northampton County

Anonymous said...

Grandpa, What is he around 69 years old, holy crap there’s mayors in The Lehigh Valley that are 75 and older.

Anonymous said...

Armstrong might be a nice guy but when it comes to taxing people he is one of the best--print this Bernie

Anonymous said...

august 23, 3:32 I waited longer than 4 hours at a very crowded poll in a church to help elect Trump and will wait in line again if need be. Oh, I was using a cane prior to surgery. Oh, I am considered a minority and my family has voted for many generations. For some of them it was not easy. Whine, whine, whine. The elusive search for fairness.