At a meeting of the NorCo Elections Commission on Tuesday, Executive Lamont McClure suggested an on-demand voting office for Bethlehem's south side, starting with the 2025 general election. His suggestion is in response to long lines at the Banana Factory voting precinct in last November's presidential, in which Lehigh University students waited in long lines to be able to vote.
Contrary to what some Lehigh U students had been led to believe, they can vote by mail or at an on-demand voting station so long as they are registered voters.
Currently, ballot-by-demand voting is possible only at the elections office, located in the bowels of the county courthouse. Even there, voters waited in line for several hours before being able to vote.
McClure is hopeful that Lehigh U will make part of its campus available as a voting precent as well as a ballot-by-demand voting station.
In other business, Elections Comm'n Solicitor Michael Vargo said that litigation concerning the date requirement on mail-in ballots has finally been resolved. Federal courts have determined that the statutory requirement that mail-in ballots be dated is constitutional.
Elections Registrar Chris Commini informed the Commission that 69,000 letters have been sent to those wishing to vote by mail, including an application for a mail-in ballot. The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is May 13, 5 pm.
Candidates who wish to appear on the ballot were able to start circulating on February 18, with all nomination petitions due on March 11. The seats up for election are located here.
