Applications were sent last week to nearly 53,000 Westmore­land County residents who previously signed up to be “permanent” mail-in voters.

“We are required to do this every year,” said Election Bureau Director Greg McCloskey. “It’s permanent just for one year.”

Voters are required each year to update their permanent mail-in voting status and apply to receive ballots as part of the 2019 law that, for the first time, authorized no-­excuse mail-in voting.

Counties are required to send out applications to “permanent” mail-in voters each February ahead of the spring primary.

Westmoreland spent nearly $35,000 to print and mail the initial batch of ballot applications as election bureau staffers begin preparations for what is expected to be a busy campaign season with county, municipal and school board races.

Nearly 35,000 voters in the county cast ballots by mail last November. McCloskey said he expects a similar number this year.

Just who will oversee this year’s primary — scheduled for May 16 — is yet to be determined.

The county elections board typically includes all three commissioners, but because the three incumbents are expected to run for reelection this spring, they will be barred from overseeing it, according to Solicitor Melissa Guiddy. She said a formal request to Common Pleas Court President Judge Christopher Feliciani to appoint members of the county bench to the elections board will be made later this month.

Feliciani could not be reached for comment.

The elections board will have an array of decisions to make, including determining whether drop boxes for mail-in ballots will be allowed this spring. Commissioners allowed drop boxes for the 2020 and 2021 elections but did not allow them to be used last year.

The new elections board also will make rulings on the admissibility of returned ballots, including whether ballots with minor deficiencies can be corrected prior to Election Day.

A state Supreme Court ruling issued last week barred counties from counting undated mail-in ballots. The same ruling authorized counties to make determinations as to how they will handle ballots returned with incorrect dates.

Candidates running for office can begin circulating nominating petitions starting Tuesday.

“Municipalities are sending us what offices are open and their terms, and we’re working to put the ballots together,” McCloskey said.

Preparations are also ongoing in Allegheny County, where spokeswoman Amie Downs said the number of mail-in voters is expected to be similar to last year.

More than 85,000 voters submitted ballots by mail last spring and 99,000 did so last fall in Allegheny County.

“We have and will continue to follow the law. We also recognize that the established law could change again as there are two federal lawsuits challenging the date requirement and any court decision could further alter what we do and how we do it,” Downs wrote in an email. “Our process has been to return undated or incorrectly dated ballots to voters to allow them an opportunity to cure, which we will continue to do unless there is a decision contrary to that process.”

The deadline to register to vote in the primary is May 1.

Registered voters have until May 9 to apply for mail-in and absentee ballots.

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