The issue of how, when, and where people can vote is once again taking center stage as lawmakers seek to iron out hurdles that counties have faced as the demand for mail-in ballots continues to rise during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Republican-drafted proposal Senate Bill 10 would, among other things, move the application deadline to request a mail-in ballot to 15 days prior to an election. Right now, the deadline stands at one week before the election.
"What's happening now is that you are cutting of a persons ability to ask for a ballot to two weeks," said PA Senator Jay Costa of Allegheny County, who added a person who has every intention of going to a polling location may not be able to make it for multiple reasons, especially now in the time of COVID-19.
But Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman noted the suggestion to limit the application deadline to 15 days before the election also came as a response to concerns from the US mail and counties.
"This is a reaction t the post offices' concerns of the amount of mail they would be getting, said Sen. Corman, who later added "if you're allowed to wait until the last second to get a ballot than this adds to the problem of too much mail coming in at any one point and time."
But Sen. Costa countered "if you're going to limit peoples ability to vote because you're worried about the mail, that's not who we should be. And, if that's the case then we need to extend the deadline to receive them as well."
Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25) and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-34), who introduced Senate Bill 10, claim it 'expands' voter access and makes the voting process more efficient while maintaining security.
"The idea they said is to increase access to elections, which I'm fine with. To the extent that it does that, that's great," said Governor Tom Wolf. "If there are some things that I think restrict access to polls or make it less safe, than I think that we have some more conversations."
Senate Bill 10 also promises to increase the ability to return a ballot by allowing counties to establish new secured locations. As for the issue of mail-in drop off boxes, the Governor stressed the bill needs to be concerned about the safety and security of those drop-off locations.
Read more about the proposals in Senate Bill 10:
- Mail-in & Absentee Ballot Signature Verification – Requires counties to contact a voter to affirm their ballot if their signature on file and ballot signature do not match, ensuring all lawfully cast ballots are counted.
- Pre-Canvassing – Allows counties to open mail-in and absentee ballots up to three days prior to the election. Counties may begin pre-canvassing at 8 a.m. the Saturday prior to an election. Pre-canvassing is permitted on all ballots received up through the day before the election. Ballots may be removed from the outer and inner envelopes, flattened and scanned, but results may not be tabulated.
- Poll Watchers – Expands the region in which poll watchers may serve from county to statewide.
- Poll Workers – Increases the area that a poll worker may serve from their home election district to any voting location in the same county.
- Providing Voters with Ballots Earlier – Changes the county deadline to start sending mail-in and absentee ballots to voters to 28 days ahead of the election. The previous deadline was 14 days.
- Mail-In and Absentee Ballot Application Deadline – Moves the application deadline to request a ballot to 15 days prior to an election, which is the same deadline as voter registration. (This change does not affect emergency absentee ballots). This measure, as well as providing voters with ballots earlier, will provide more time for the U.S. Postal Service to process mail and to ensure that ballots are received back at the county in time and appropriately counted.
- New Secure Return Locations – Creates the ability for counties to establish secured locations for the return of ballots at the County Courthouse, permanent offices of the Election Board and polling places. Allowing ballot returns to these locations will increase the number of ways to return mail-in ballots.
The GOP Senators said the reforms would enact the majority of recommendations made by the Pennsylvania Department of State in its 2020 Primary Election Act 35 of 2020 Report while also addressing concerns of counties and elected officials.