Venango County has been inundated with requests for mail-in ballots in recent weeks.
The county had received about 1,800 to 2,000 requests as of Thursday, said Gerry McGuinness, the county’s voter registrar.
“The number is very, very, high,” McGuinness said. And the ballot requests keep coming in, she added.
“It’s truly overwhelming,” McGuinness said. “I’m very happy people are taking advantage of the opportunity to vote, but the mail-in ballot process takes a lot of work that the voters don’t see. No one sees the work that goes into processing the ballots unless they are on this side of things,” McGuinness added.
Each ballot request must be processed individually.
As of Thursday morning, 487 ballot applications by Democrats and 512 applications by Republicans had been processed, McGuinness said. She added that about 890 applications are still to be processed.
She stressed that the number is “very fluid” and changing as more applications for mail-in ballots are received and processed.
“There has been a large request for mail-in ballots…it is an increase over what we normally see for absentee ballots,” county administrator Sabrina Backer said.
“I’m sure other counties around us are seeing the same kind of numbers (of requests for mail-in ballots),” McGuinness said.
To put the numbers in perspective, here are the number of absentee ballots requested in previous years.
— 2016 primary – 585 absentee ballot requests were processed in Venango County.
— 2012 primary – 446 absentee ballots were processed during the entire season in Venango County.
— 2012 general election – 1,500 absentee ballots were processed in Venango County.
“We will fly past those numbers (of absentee ballots requested in the 2012 general election) next week,” McGuinness said.
Because of the coronavirus, this election is the first in which voters have the option to request mail-in ballots.
The State Department and both political parties have been pushing mail-in ballots as a good way to vote during the election, McGuinness said. As a result, some people who aren’t registered to vote are requesting the mail-in ballots, she added.
McGuinness stressed that the first step to voting is registering to vote.
“People must register to vote. That is my receipt that they can vote,” McGuinness said.
Processing ballots
After each application is processed and mailing labels are printed, a set of instructions, return envelope, privacy envelope and a ballot are put in an envelope and mailed to the voter.
McGuinness said she had 700 to 800 envelope sets ready to put a ballot in. She said she can process and prep about 150 applications in one day, but this doesn’t include mailing them out.
“Handwritten applications are harder to process because you sometimes have to interpret someone’s handwriting,” she said. Applications also come to the elections office online.
“It’s a team effort,” McGuinness said.
McGuinness said she, elections coordinator Jamie Kirkwood and Backer are processing all the ballot requests.
Voter fraud concerns
McGuinness said she doesn’t see voter fraud as an issue with mail-in ballots. She said the county goes to great lengths to ensure that everyone who votes has one vote and their ballot is accounted for.
The returned ballots are processed through the county voter registration system that links the vote cast with the voter who cast the ballot.
She explained that a mail-in vote is recorded once the ballot is cast and that person can’t go vote in person.
After the ballots have been cast they are locked up and recounted multiple times over.
McGuinness said she also double and triple checks that the ballots match up with the records of the voters who cast them.
“We do regular counts and check the labels to make sure your vote is counted to you. If I have five ballots from Allegheny Township recorded I go check to make sure I have five ballots,” she said.
Preparations underway
Backer said Thursday she wouldn’t be surprised if the state decides the primary will be mail-in only. At any rate, she said the primary will pose a challenge.
“With the stay at home order in effect until May 8 we will be in a pinch with training pollworkers. I’ll have about three weeks to train over 200 pollworkers,” Backer said.
If the primary is done solely through the mail. county employees will likely be the ones to count the ballots, Backer said.
Voters can request a mail-in ballot at votespa.com or at the county election office. A voter doesn’t need to provide a reason or excuse for a mail-in ballot.
Applications must be turned in by 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 26.
Voters who applied for a mail-in ballot before the election date was changed don’t need to reapply for another ballot.
The deadline for the county to receive a completed mail-in ballot is 8 p.m. on election day.
“The volume (of requests for mail-in ballots) is incredible. It’s totally awesome that people are voting,” McGuinness said. “It is every American’s right and privilege to vote. But they don’t see how much work it takes to maintain it,” she added.
