The Registrars of Northampton and Lehigh counties made some suggestions to improve the process of receiving and counting mail-in ballots. One was to start counting the ballots before the election day. They said that leaks were unlikely, since only a few staff members were able to pull the results from the computer that scans the ballots.
They also wanted the counties to be able to count ballots that arrive after election day as long as they are postmarked by election day, Under the present system, ballots that arrive after the election day are not counted even if they are postmarked in time.
Counties now can begin mailing out ballots 14 days before the election. A suggested change is to start mailing them out 28 days before the election to give the voters time to get them back. This is especially important now with Trump and his appointee creating delays in the postal system.
They also recommended making it easier to hire poll workers. In the primary it was possible to hire poll workers who lived outside the precinct where they were assigned. Current law requires poll workers to be from their voting precinct, and if the Registrar can’t get the workers, polling places must be consolidated, leading to long lines.
Here is the catch. The Pennsylvania legislature must adopt these changes. Both houses are Republican. Republicans are doing their best to call the whole balloting process into question. I don’t think we will see these changes.
Some of the material from this post is from Tom Shortell, “Officials support proposed election changes,” Morning Call, (Aug. 5, 2020), p. 5.
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