This year’s election is one of the most important ones in our lifetime and with people reluctant to go to the polls in November due to the COVID-19 crisis, the process is going to be a bit different.
It should be noted that absentee ballots are essentially the same as mail-in ballots with the exception that you don’t need a reason, such as being out of town or a health condition that prevents you from going to the polls to get one.
Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill allowing anyone to vote by mail just last October.
Five states, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington have been holding all-mail elections for years. And 22 other states have instituted automatic mail ballot applications or actual ballots to all registered voters as a result of the pandemic.
But how reliable is mail-in voting? I asked Dawn E. Graham, Clearfield County’s director of elections. “Our phones have been very busy,” Graham said, as many people seem to have questions about the process.
Graham confirmed that voting by mail is a safe and reliable option. She stated that she does not know of any instance of voter fraud in the county.
Recently FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate and said: “We have not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it’s by mail or otherwise.”
Reports of people receiving multiple ballots in Pennsylvania are false. “You must request a ballot in order to receive one,” she said. No one else has access to the list of registered voters.
However, there are some political groups sending out ballot applications to encourage people to vote, but these are not to be confused with actual ballots.
Voters are not able to request a ballot without supplying personal information, making it difficult to apply for a ballot for someone else.
“When you apply for a mail-in ballot, you must provide your driver’s license number or the last four digits of your social security number,” she explained.
“When we receive the application, we input it into the state system to generate a ballot label. If someone applies again and we input it into the system, it will flag us that the voter has already applied. Therefore, another label will not be cued up.”
That means one per customer with a special barcode linked to a specific registered voter. Graham said it is not possible to forge a ballot.
Clearfield County’s ballots should be mailed out soon.
“When voters receive their balloting material, they will receive the ballot, two envelopes, and instructions.”
After filling it out, it is vital that you put it in the “secrecy envelope” that says “OFFICIAL ELECTION BALLOT” and seal it.
“If you do not put your ballot in this envelope, it will not be counted,” she emphasized.
The secrecy envelope then needs to be put in the mailing envelope and sealed.
“You must fill out the back of this envelope with you signature, the date (not your birth date), your printed name and address,” she explained.
“If this is not filled out, and we can’t contact you to correct it, you ballot will not count.”
They need to be postmarked by Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. and received by Nov. 6 to be counted.
It is recommended that you mail your ballot as soon as you can because of possible delays by the postal service.
There will be no drop boxes in Clearfield County. However, you can drop your ballot at the election office during normal business hours.
“Keep in mind, no one else can hand carry your ballot,” Graham warned. You must deliver it yourself.
If you vote by mail, you will not be permitted to vote at the polls because the books listing voters’ names have separate sections.
“The first section contains the names of those who have not requested a mail ballot and voters who have requested a mail ballot but who has not returned the ballot by the time of printing the books,” Graham explained.
“If a voter has not returned their ballot, there will be a watermark stating that they requested one and that it has not been returned to the Election Office.
“The second section contains the names of the voters who have requested and returned their mail ballots,” making them ineligible to vote again at the polls.
What if you didn’t return your mail-in ballot and decide you want to vote at the polls?
“If the voter brings the mail balloting material, which includes the ballot and both envelopes with them to the polls, the poll worker will spoil (void) the ballot and issue them a regular ballot. If the voter does not bring back their balloting material, they will be issued a provisional ballot.”
If it is later discovered this person had voted by mail, the provisional ballot will not be counted.
After the ballots arrive in the election office, they are scanned and filed under the appropriate precinct until Election Day. Only the election staff has access to them as they are kept in a secure location.
They can not begin to open them until 7 a.m. on Election Day. None of the results will be available until after the polls close at 8 p.m.
The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 27, which you can do online or at your local election office. If you haven’t registered to vote yet, you can do so online until Oct. 19.
Additional information is available on clearfieldco.org under elections and on votesPA.com.