HARRISBURG — The latest push to give counties extra time to “pre-canvass” mail ballots before an election advanced in the state House on Tuesday as election directors anticipate a presidential election with huge numbers of those ballots.
The Democrat-controlled chamber voted to gut a bill that had multiple election-related measures in it – like changing the deadline for in-person applications for mail ballots – and make it what Rep. Scott Conklin called “no frills.” The amended bill would simply let counties start pre-canvassing seven days prior to an election, rather than the current setup of waiting until 7 a.m. on Election Day.
The vote to amend the bill was 102-98, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed. The bill could be put to a final vote in the Democrat-controlled House on Wednesday.
Its future in the Republican-controlled Senate as a standalone measure appears dim.
On Tuesday, Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana and the Republican majority leader, said bolstering voters’ confidence in elections is a top priority. Hence, he said, “Any discussion of changes to the administration of elections in our commonwealth must also include a Constitutional voter identification requirement.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has spoken in favor of giving counties more time to carry out pre-canvassing.
Among other things, the process involves opening envelopes containing mail ballots and tallying the votes reflected on the ballots, but not recording or publishing those votes. Election directors have repeatedly called for more time to do the work, but previous attempts to get a new law through the Legislature have failed.
“Adding that pre-canvassing time prior to Election Day is one of the things that would help counties with election administration,” said Lisa Schaefer, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.
Election directors, she said, essentially oversee two elections on the same day: one involving thousands of mail ballots and another involving in-person voting. “We could focus on one, and then on the other” if counties had more pre-canvassing time, she said.
Tim Benyo, chief clerk to the Lehigh County Election Board, said the need for pre-canvassing time has not diminished in the years lawmakers have been talking about it. The big turnout expected in the Nov. 5 presidential election makes the need current, he said.
“We’re not breaking new ground here,” Mr. Benyo said. “Other states do it.”
Thad Hall, election director in Mercer County and head of the Western Pennsylvania Election Personnel Association, predicted a large increase in mail ballots for the November election, partly because Republican promotions of mail ballots have increased.
When election staff have to pre-canvass huge numbers of mail ballots on Election Day, Mr. Hall said, “It means I am pulling staff away from serving people at polling places.”
Republican Rep. Brad Roae of Crawford County said the need for pre-canvassing time has diminished. Counties, Mr. Roae said, have used election integrity grants handed out under a 2022 law to buy envelope-opening machines that make things go faster.
Mr. Roae said he also had concerns that pre-canvassing ballots before Election Day would allow workers to see how people voted before the actual election. That, he said, would contradict a provision in the state constitution that mandates “secrecy in voting be preserved.”
Ford Turner: fturner@post-gazette.com
First Published: April 30, 2024, 10:40 p.m.
Updated: May 1, 2024, 2:17 p.m.
