6 counties want presidential primary moved to June 23
Emily Previti
Berks County commissioners passed a resolution Wednesday urging Gov. Tom Wolf to move the presidential primary to June 23.
The day before, officials from Philadelphia and its four collar counties sent a letter to Wolf to that effect.
The moves come as election officials are becoming increasingly anxious, and poll workers preemptively call out weeks ahead of the April 28 primary.
“I wouldn’t have said this even a couple days ago, but … I’ve gotten to the point where, to me, Governor Wolf is failing counties and their voters every day that he permits this cloud of uncertainty to keep hanging over our primary,” said Lycoming County Elections Director Forrest Lehman.
“I’ve never seen a primary in greater peril than this one,” Lehman said. “And it’s just due to the silence, the indecision, the lack of guidance on what counties are supposed to be doing. He has to make a decision as soon as possible or this is entirely his fault if this primary ends up at the bottom of the ocean.”
Lehman said organizations that host polling places haven’t pulled out of participating in the primary as of Thursday, nor has he received any notice from poll workers that they aren’t willing to work.
But in some counties, it’s happening to a dramatic degree: Berks County has already lost at least 25 percent of its poll workers and nearly 20 locations, according to Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt.
If Wolf decides to postpone the primary, he might need the legislature’s concurrence. So far, negotiations among legislative leaders and the governor haven’t produced agreement on a new primary date, sources familiar with those talks said. There’s also no consensus on whether voters should be required to cast their ballots by mail – another option that legislators and election officials find increasingly appealing as more COVID-19 cases are confirmed in Pennsylvania.
In response to the epidemic, state and federal lawmakers have introduced bills that would cover the costs of mailed ballots.
Some counties – including Berks, Bradford, Dauphin, Montgomery, Northampton and Wyoming– say they could handle an all-mail primary if it happened April 28.
But preparedness varies widely across the state, says Lisa Schaefer, the executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.
In Columbia, Lycoming and elsewhere, officials are trying to figure out what would be entailed to properly gear up, given the likelihood that more voters will opt to mail ballots if the public health crisis continues.
“I think counties are very quickly coming to the opinion that this needs to be postponed as long as possible, and that it probably needs to be conducted entirely by mail in ballots in order to protect public health,” Lehman said.
Another challenge for an all-mail vote: How counties would serve voters who use an audio ballot or require other accommodations.
“A postponement will offer us an opportunity to continue to work with the General Assembly and the Governor’s office to determine the most appropriate way to implement the primary election in this unprecedented situation … and give us time to ensure that counties can continue to deliver fair, accessible and secure elections,” Schaefer said in an email.