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| Exec McClure: "We got this for you!" |
Voting at Precinct on Election Day. - If you want to vote in person at your precinct on election day, there are 154 polling precincts with 315 Express Vote XL touchscreen voting device. This voting system combines the simplicity of touch screen voting with the important redundancy of a voter-verifiable paper trail. (You can find your polling place here.) McClure is asking voters who choose this option to wear a mask. Poll workers will be required to do so.
Mail-in and Absentee Ballot Applications. - Up until October 27, you can apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot. The application form is located online. You can also get one at the voter registration office, which is now open from 8:30 am until 8 pm on weekdays and from 8 am until noon on Saturdays. Voter Registrar Amy Cozze has received and approved 63,000 applications thus far, and mailed out 30,000 ballots on Monday. She expects to have all ballots in the mail by week's end.
The ballots will come with two envelopes. One is a secrecy envelope in which you must place your ballot. That secrecy envelope goes into an outer envelope that includes a voter's declaration. This must be completed if you want your vote to count. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered elections officials to reject ballots unless they are inside a secrecy envelope. This is what is known as a "naked ballot." In addition, the Supreme Court has ruled that, if the outer envelope is unsigned with a voter's declaration, the vote must go uncounted.
Cozze had previously predicted there would be 100,000 requests for absentee ballots, but said that interest in them has diminished. McClure attributes this to "the President's rhetoric and the decisions that have been made at the upper echelons of the US Postal Service have undermined some folks' confidence in the postal system." He has confidence, however, that the postal service will get ballots back in time. Moreover, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has imposed a three-day extension on mailed ballots until November 6.
A person who has received a mail-in ballot can change his mind and decide to vote at the polls. If he does, he must bring both his mail-in ballot and the envelopes to his voting precinct. This requirement prevents a double-vote. The mail-in ballot will be voided and the voter will then be permitted to vote on the Express Vote XL.
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| Administrator Charles Dertinger, minus his ubiquitous bowtie. |
1) Bethlehem City Hall's Plaza Entrance (10 E Church St, Bethlehem, pa. 18018) from 8 am until 4 pm, Monday through Friday.
2) Northampton County Government Center (669 Washington St, Easton, Pa. 18042) rotunda from 8:30 am until 8 pm, Monday thru Friday, and on Saturdays from 8 am until noon.
3) Northampton County's Human Services Building (2801 Emrick Blvd, Bethlehem, Pa. 18020) from 8:30 am until 7 pm, Monday through Friday.
4) Northampton County's 911 Center (100 Gracedale Avenue, Nazareth Pa 18064), from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday.
These locations correspond with the four county districts. Free parking is available at all four locations. Each drop box is monitored by surveillance cameras and will be emptied daily by Deputy Sheriffs who will be sworn in and will also complete daily forms to preserve the chain of custody. The ballots are delivered to the Registrar, who will secure them in a locked vault until election day, when canvassing can begin.
Early Voting (Ballot by Demand). - McClure noted that, if you have no desire to stand in long lines on election day and distrust mail-in ballots, you can vote now by coming to the courthouse and requesting as ballot. This is known as early voting. After filling out the necessary paperwork, the elections office will provide you with both a ballot and a location in which you can vote in privacy.
This option is available from 8;30 am until 8 pm, Monday thru Friday, and on Saturdays from 8 am until noon. McClure noted there will be long lines on election day and the more people who vote at the courthouse, the less people will have to stand in line.
No Need For UN Observers. - McClure dismissed Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley's request for UN observers at the polls. "We don't need UN observers in Northampton County," he remarked.
Given the numerous ways in which a person can vote, McClure there really is no excuse for failing to vote on November 3. Council President Ron Heckman added that Council has approved close to $5 million for the best voting machines, epollbooks and added personnel.
"It's a bedrock responsibility," he said.
15 comments:
Have ALL of these changes been validated by a vote of the Election Commission? I've been looking to see if they have met and I've seen nothing. Lehigh County added the drop boxes after an emergency meeting of their Election Commission. Dont want to see NORCO screw this up.
The McClure quote, “our little corner of the world,” is worth noting. As a County resident, I expect everything to be right. I have faith in his expectations of a clean election here. But, it’s the rest of the state, specifically Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that will determine who wins in Pennsylvania. Evidence of poor election control in those places has been well-documented.
Nationally, there WILL be numerous problems. That stage has been set. I expect reports of foul play to be heavier than ever. Just the possibility of final results not being known for several weeks should concern everyone greatly. We are not ready to handle the mess I fear is coming.
12:26, The EC has control over the conduct of elections, but decisions over what systems we use and the use of county resources are for the Exec and Council, who are elected by the people. You could argue the Elections Code gives this authority to the EC, but my reading is different. There are no cases on this point.
" But, it’s the rest of the state, specifically Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that will determine who wins in Pennsylvania. "
If that were true, HC would be president. There was a massive turnout in center counties in 2016 and they were ALL red. In some counties, Trump had a double digit lead.
Of course there will be numerous problems. There always are in a Presidential election. There will be problems in NorCo, too. But McClure called that news conference yesterday to outline the numerous things the county is doing and to assure the public that they should have confidence that their vote will be counted.
I decline to host the usual partisan shots at McClure or Cozze that are unaccompanied by any insights into this election. If you have something to say about the SUBJECT of this post, please do. Constructive criticism is welcome. But if you just want play political games, I am not going to allow it in a post about the elections process.
If there is a lawsuit about the ballots and drop boxes, you can be sure that they will come after ANY AND ALL missteps that the county made. The Election code gives power to the Election Commission to oversee the election logistics and these are the things that they approve or disapprove at official meetings. If NORCO is doing this without the official vote of the EC they are risking possible lawsuits if the dropboxes are challenged. They should call a meeting immediately and get it done.
Trump's biggest criticism is with states which are mailing ballots to every registered voter. Pa. seems to have the same procedure as an absentee ballot. You have to request a ballot, and i assume they are going to check if you are registered and alive, before they mail you a ballot. This is how it should be, also some of these states seem to not have their plan worked out.
The other complaint is counting ballots after the election. A Wisconsin judge ruling allowing 2 weeks has been overturned by a federal judge. It would be good if the post mark would have to be by the Friday before. It should then get there on time. and counting could begin before the Tuesday voting.
The ruling by the Pa. court to count votes for 3 days after, is also being appealed. They can get ballots now, they have a month to get it in. Again, no reason for counting after the election day.
The best way to insure and also have the public perceive the election is fair is make the rules clear, go by the law, and keep judges from changing the rules. Also have a result by Nov. 4, It can be done, but in today's political climate no one trusts anyone.
All drop boxes will be protected via video. How many times have videos been lost, failed to record etc, etc. Will they be view hourly, daily, or after the election. Will the sheriff department count each envelope in front of the video to insure each envelope makes it to the Court House? Will there be one or two sheriff's doing the collection? Today you cannot trust anyone that get your ballot before it gets to be counted.
10:11, Actually at the last meeting of the EC, a motion to ban the use of drop boxes was defeated 3-2. So calm down.
Please come to the courthouse and vote the city of Easton need you to feed the parking meters!
Monitored by surveillance video by the same gang that can't broadcast a council meeting without getting the cans and strings unknotted? Ruh roh. Anybody see a problem with this? The county is demonstrably, chronically poor with IT issues.
Not only are there parking spots within a stone's throw of the rotunda that require no meter parking, there are numerous free parking lots. But Trump's mankurts will do their best to discourage people from voting. It is ridiculous.
They brought out the big guns on this press thing. \Why the show. They are democrat elected officials. We won't be sur if the election is real or stolen until days after the election. Even today the President has pointed to Pennsylvania as a state that could be stolen by mail in ballots.
This is a very serious concern.
It's pretty clear to me that McClure wanted to reassure the public against the nonsense spewed by mankurts like you.
Stop tacking shots at the county executive and and the voter registration lady. I personally think they are attempting to do this election correctly. I’m a hard R as you might observe.
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