HARRISBURG, Pa. — In a contentious election year, the Commonwealth figures to play an important role in the outcome. The eyes of the nation may be fixed on Pennsylvania on Election Day and on Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt.
Schmidt sat down with FOX43 ahead of polls opening on Tuesday, Nov. 5 to take questions on the upcoming election.
FOX43: "I want to get your thoughts first on the state of the process in Pennsylvania right now and where things stand, how you're feeling."
Schmidt: “I think we're seeing really high voter engagement across Pennsylvania, although the number of people applying to vote by mail is less than it was in 2020 during that peak COVID environment. There's still a lot of people who embrace that method of voting. People can show up in person and cast their vote that way as well.”
FOX43: "We have had in several counties, including Lancaster County, reports of potential issues with voter registration and fraud there. How closely have you worked with those counties?"
Schmidt: “We've been in touch with Lancaster and York County from the very beginning. Whenever they became aware of this issue, they reached out to us. We provided guidance. But I want to be very clear. These were voter registration applications. They're not ballots. They're not anything else like that. When you apply to register to vote in Pennsylvania, you are providing a social security number, or you're providing a driver's license number. And when you vote in person, you're also providing an ID when you show up to vote. So, there are safeguards built into this process, whether a county receives one fraudulent application or a million fraudulent applications. They're caught, they're identified, and referred to law enforcement to investigate.”
FOX43: "In this contentious political climate, how can you assure Pennsylvanians that this election is going to be free and fair?"
Schmidt: “It’s no wonder that people have questions. But since the primary election of 2020, there's a voter verified paper ballot record of every vote that's cast in Pennsylvania. So Pennsylvania should have confidence that when they cast their vote, their vote will be counted and their voice will be heard.”
FOX43: "How much of this does come down to the counties? You're obviously at the state level here, but this is being overseen at the local level."
Schmidt: “The Pennsylvania Department of State has an important oversight responsibility and an important supporting role. But really, it’s people at the county level, people you might know who are involved in the electoral process and counting your vote.”
FOX43: "What will be done with the ballots at this point that are seen to have deficiencies when they arrive in an election's office?"
Schmidt: “There are very, very few votes that are set aside and not counted because of a fatal error.”
FOX43: "In the previous election, obviously there were some delays. What are you expecting in terms of turnaround time?"
Schmidt: “It has really always comes down to how close an election is, but a few things have changed. Counties have acquired additional equipment to help process mail ballots. They have a lot more experience than they had in 2020, when none of us had hardly any at all processing that volume of ballots. And there are fewer voters voting by mail in Pennsylvania. Are you prepared to face legal challenges when it comes to the results of this election? You can never predict who's going to win or lose an election. You can never predict what turnout is going to be, but you can always predict plenty of lawsuits. We'll be prepared for that. The courts are really the best place for our disagreements to be settled.”
FOX43: "This is your first presidential election in this role. What have you learned to prepare you for this moment? All eyes are on you right now."
Schmidt: “Well, I think the Shapiro Administration has taken a number of important steps. Not only have we created an election threat task force, so if any of that ugliness returns that so many people experienced in 2020, we're prepared. Any threats of violence or intimidation targeted at our voters or our polling places or our county election officials, we'll be prepared. Our law enforcement partners will be prepared.”