Summary of the Act 35 of 2020 Primary Election Report – Agosto 1, 2020

  • Total Mail-in and Absentee ballots voted – 1,459,555
  • Total In-Person votes cast – 1.3 Million
  • Total registered voters – 8,599,294
  • Total numbers of voters in Primary – 2,880,499 (about 33% of registered voters cast a ballot, which is far greater than in 2012 – the last time a presidential primary was not contested on both sides of the aisle.)
  • The number of challenged mail-in and absentee ballots – 0
  • The number of mail-in ballot applications approved – 1,510,951
  • The number of mail-in ballots voted – 1,223,515
  • The number of polling places consolidated that did not require DOS approval – 724
    • There were some counties that did not consolidate polling places
  • Polling places consolidated that required DOS approval
    • Allegheny: 850 to 211 (75% decrease)
    • Cameron: 10 to 3 (70% decrease)
    • Forest: 9 to 2 (78% decrease)
    • Philadelphia: 850 to 190 (78% decrease)
  • The number of Act 12 of 2020 Section 1803-B Polling Place Locations
    • These are polling places located in buildings where alcohol may be served
    • Total of 117 polling places
    • Majority were in Westmoreland Co. with 74
  • The number of polling places located in schools – 841
    • The majority were in Montgomery Co. with 140
  • 52 of the 67 counties participated in pre-canvassing of ballots
    • Pre-canvassing was permitted to begin no earlier than 7:00 am on the day of the election.
    • The 15 counties that did not participate in pre-canvassing were:
Beaver Berks Bradford Carbon
Clinton Cumberland Dauphin Greene
Juniata Lebanon Mercer Monroe
Filadelfia Pike Somerset  

 

  • The date counties reported counting all domestic ballots
    • This information was not required as part of Act 35, but was included for context
    • The earliest date reported was Junio 3, 2020 – 1 day after the Primary
    • The latest date reported was Junio 18, 2020 – 16 days after the Primary
    • Dauphin did not provide a response
  • Altogether counties reported that 3,288 ballots were sent to the wrong voter or to the wrong address. Of this total, 3,000 were reported by Allegheny. That county reported that 3,000 ballots were returned as undeliverable because the voters provided an incorrect or no longer valid address. In about half of these cases, the county was able to reissue ballots, but in some cases the undeliverable ballots arrived too late for the county to reissue ballots.
    • Other causes for the errors and irregularities were:
      • Mail house vendor errors
      • Mailing addresses on some address labels without an apartment number due to an anomaly in the Online Absentee Ballot application that did not require applicants to enter apartment information in the correct field
      • Human error when inserting balloting materials into envelopes
      • Mail delivery errors that resulted in individuals receiving another voter’s balloting materials
      • Timing issues that resulted in voters receiving ballots at an address after they moved or returned to a previous address
    • The number of ballots voted by someone other than the voter – 3
      • In each county (Erie, Lackawanna, Schuylkill), election officials voided the ballot and re-issued them to the appropriate voter.
      • Each county reported that it did not appear to be willful or fraudulent.
    • The number of ballots returned by means other than the voter mailing it or delivering it in person to a designated site – 153
      • 117 were delivered on behalf of voters with disabilities by duly designated agents
      • The remaining 36 were the result of confusion regarding the requirements for delivering ballot materials.
    • In Montgomery County there were 1900 voters sent ballots with the incorrect political party. The county was able to cancel those ballots and reissue correct ones.
    • Also, in Montgomery County 4000 additional voters received the wrong ballot style.
      • These ballots were cancelled, but there was not enough time to send out new ballots and those voters were instructed they would have to vote by provisional ballot at the polls or the county election office.
      • In both of these cases the mail house vendor did not have adequate quality controls, and the county is no longer using this vendor.
    • Voting Machine Issues/Incidents
      • Very few voting system errors were reported.
      • Most issues were minor and were quickly resolved through maintenance or replacement or scanners or ballots.
      • 3 counties experienced more significant issues but were able to continue having people vote with little to no interruption.
      • Bucks county’s vendor cut some ballots to large to be scanned by the precinct scanners. Voters cast their ballots in the emergency ballot box to be tabulated centrally.
      • Lancaster County’s vendor printed the ballots to lightly to be read by the scanner. Voters cast their ballots in the emergency ballot box to be tabulated centrally.
      • Clarion County’s scanners could not read the write-in votes and those had to be rescanned at the county and reconciled manually.
    • What is the Department doing to help counties?
      • Engaging with counties on process improvement and implementation of best practices.
      • Engaged experts to work with counties on internal processes and external dependencies to avoid delays and errors in the Noviembre general election.
      • For voting machines, the Department will continue to ensure that pre-election logic and accuracy testing is completed as broadly and effectively as possible.
      • Working with counties to conduct additional education for poll workers and voters.
    • Changes that the Generally Assembly should consider implementing
      • Delivery of Ballots to Voters
        • Increase the deadline for counties to begin delivering or mailing ballots to voters from 14 days to at least 28 days before the election, and if a third-party is used no later than 35 days before the election.
      • Return of Ballots to Counties
        • Allow county boards of elections to count ballots received up to the Viernes following an election, provided the envelopes are postmarked by Election Day.
      • Pre-Canvass Timeline
        • Allow counties to begin pre-canvassing as early as 3 weeks before Election Day.
        • Require at least one pre-canvassing meeting
      • Poll Worker Flexibility
        • Allow counties to appoint poll workers who are not registered electors in the election district to which they are appointed.
        • Allow more to fill poll worker vacancies.

 

Tweet
Compartir
Compartir
Pin