Northampton County Exec Lamont McClure advised County Council at last night's meeting that, thus far, there have been 24,666 applications for mail-in ballots (MIB). Of these, 18,586 have come from Democrats and 6,080 from Republicans. When you start wondering why Republicans are getting so few votes from MIBs, that's what happens when they fail to apply for them.
The actual ballots will start going out tomorrow. The reason for the delay is that there was a ballot challenge in the US Senate race that went to the state supreme court. No ballots could be sent until that matter was decided. That happened last Friday, after which the ballots had to be printed.
If you'd like to review a sample ballot, you can review one for your precinct at the county elections page.
McClure reminded everyone that Monday is the last day you can register to vote or change your party registration before the primary election on April 23.
The last day you can seek a MIB is April 16.
In addition to MIBs and in-person voting at the polls, a third option is early voting. That started on April 2 and will continue through April 16. Also called ballot-by-demand, this takes place at the elections office in Easton (669 Washington Street, lower level).
Registered voters in Northampton County can vote in person on the following dates:
- Tuesday, April 2nd – Friday, April 5th (8:30 am – 8:00 pm)
- Saturday, April 6th (from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm)
- Monday, April 8th – Friday, April 12th (8:30 am - 8:00 pm)
- Saturday, April 13th (from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm)
- Monday, April 15th (8:30 am - 8:00 pm)
- The LAST day for Ballot-on-Demand will be Tuesday, April 16th (8:30 am - 5:00 pm)
McClure also reminded everyone that there will be three new drop box locations for people who worry that the USPS fails to return a MIB in time for a vote to count. Drop boxes will be available on Monday at the following places:
- NEW LOCATION: Washington Township Municipal Building (Main Entrance Vestibule): 1021 Washington Blvd., Bangor, PA 18013
- NEW LOCATION: East Allen Township Municipal Building (Main Lobby): 5344 Nor Bath Blvd., Northampton, PA 18067
- NEW LOCATION: NCC Fowler Family Southside Center (Main Lobby): 511 E. 3rd St., Bethlehem, PA 18015
- Northampton County Courthouse (Rotunda): 669 Washington St., Easton, PA 18042
- Northampton County Human Services Building (Main Entrance Vestibule): 2801 Emrick Blvd., Bethlehem, PA 18020
- Northampton County 911 Center (Main Entrance Vestibule): 100 Gracedale Ave., Nazareth, PA 18064
- Bethlehem City Hall (Main Lobby): 10 E. Church St., Bethlehem, PA 18018.
UPDATED 4/6, 5:30 PM: 20,445 MIBs were mailed Friday and Saturday in NorCo
18,586 have come from Democrats and 6,080 from Republicans
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why Dems won every competitive race in PA and Norco last year and it's why they will win again this year.
I always ask. What is the rejection rate of these ballots? The more ballots that go out the higher the rate should be. The New York Times warned us in 2012. Quote from the New York Times article below and link to read the article.
ReplyDeleteYet votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show. Election officials reject almost 2 percent of ballots cast by mail, double the rate for in-person voting.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/us/politics/as-more-vote-by-mail-faulty-ballots-could-impact-elections.html
8:12, We won't know how many are rejected until they are returned. The rejection rate should be pretty high among those who fail to sign or date their ballots. They are contacted and given an opportunity to correct these defects. I believe the rejection rate in one early election was about 10%. It has gone down since then as voters have become more familiar and elections officials have provided better instructions. But it is still probably at least 2%.
ReplyDeleteThe most sure way to vote is actually the early vote at the elections office, where your ballot outer envelope will be reviewed when you vote.
@8:12 - Just to clarify, the more ballots that go out would potentially increase the number of rejections, but not the rate of rejections. A rejection rate of 1 out of 10 is always 10%, whether its 10 rejections out of 100 returned, 100 out of 1,000 or 100,000 out of a million.
ReplyDelete