Westmoreland election bureau office extends hours; voters expected to get mail ballots this weekend
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Westmoreland County voters will begin seeing mail-in ballots arrive at their homes as early as Saturday, election officials said.
More than 42,000 mail-in ballots have been sent to voters this week. Those who have yet to apply can do so at the courthouse, which, since Monday, has started same-day voting. About 350 voters have cast ballots this week, according to election bureau Director Greg McCloskey.
With Election Day less than a month away, Westmoreland officials have ramped up preparations for what is expected to be an intensely close presidential race.
The county’s three commissioners, acting as the election board, on Thursday voted to extend the hours of operation for the election bureau starting Tuesday. The first-floor courthouse office will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays; and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends through Nov. 4.
The office will be open to the public from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election Day.
McCloskey said the flow of mail-in ballot applications remains steady but is not expected to equal the nearly 80,000 that were requested ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Nearly 60,000 mail-in ballots were cast four years ago. Mail-in voting could surpass the totals from 2022, when more than 34,000 were cast.
Republican efforts to increase participation in mail-in voting so far appear to have had some success. According to the most recent totals, 34% of the mail-in ballots requested in Westmoreland County came from Republican voters. Republicans accounted for about a quarter of all mail-in ballots cast in 2022.
Democratic voters accounted for about 57% of mail-in applications received to date, according to the election bureau.
There about 244,000 registered voters in the the county, breaking down to 123,000 Republican, 91,000 Democrat and 30,000 independent or other parties.
Voters have until Oct. 29 to apply for mail-in ballots. Mail-in ballots must be returned to the election bureau by 8 p.m. Nov. 5 to be counted.
Lobbying continued Thursday for commissioners to approve at least one drop box at the courthouse.
“We need at least one,” said Bibiana Boerio, a Democratic Party official from Unity.
“Clearly, we believe there should be more than one drop box in the county,” she said. “But, at this stage, at least one drop box located in the county courthouse, preferably in the lower level off of Pennsylvania Avenue, provides a good compromise of making it easier for all citizens to vote safely, securely and conveniently with confidence their vote would be delivered on time and able to be counted.”
The county installed regional drop boxes at multiple locations for two weekends before the 2020 presidential election and did so again in 2021. In 2022, the county operated one drop box at the Pennsylvania entrance to the courthouse while the front door to the government complex was closed during construction of a new underground garage.
The county did not operate drop boxes last year or prior to this spring’s primary.
Republican Commissioner Doug Chew proposed a compromise that would place an election bureau staffer at the rear courthouse entrance later this month to accept mail-in ballots from voters.
“I would be open to having someone stationed near the door on Pennsylvania Avenue to collect ballots, not so much a drop box but a certified election bureau worker,” Chew said. “I think we are going to get a lot of people voting, but I am not set on anything.”
Fellow Republican Commissioner Sean Kertes, like Chew, has not supported the use of drop boxes over the past two election cycles.
“I want to stick with what we did in the primary, but I am not opposed to putting in drop boxes in the future. Right now, with people on both sides of the aisle questioning everything, the most simplistic way to ensure your vote is counted is to come up and hand off a ballot to an election bureau worker,” Kertes said.
Democratic Commissioner Ted Kopas, who previously has proposed installation of drop boxes, said he supports Chew’s plan.
“It’s the right thing to do, and, at the end of the day, our job is to make voting easier,” Kopas said. “We should have a dedicated person where people don’t have to go through security. Lots of people will vote by mail, and the challenges of the post office are real. So absolutely, there will be a late crush. So I’m open to having a drop box for that last week before Election Day so nothing is lost.”
The election board will meet again Oct. 24, when Chew’s proposal could be considered.
The commissioners said an agreement with city officials was reached to reserve two parking spots along Pennsylvania Avenue for voters to drop off ballots at the courthouse. McCloskey said the parking spots are expected to be available this week.