Allegheny County will send mail-in ballot applications to every registered voter in the county who hasn’t already applied for one for this June's primary election, officials announced Friday.
The county is currently “finalizing” the mailings, which will include an application and a postage-paid envelope addressed back to the county elections office, according to a written announcement.
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who earlier this week called on the governor to use his emergency powers to allow counties to send actual mail-in ballots to voters, said without that authority, officials are “moving forward” with sending the applications.
The move follows weeks of lawmakers and local officials encouraging Pennsylvanians to apply for mail-in ballots if they’re concerned about the viability of voting in-person on June 2 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Fitzgerald has warned that encouragement isn’t enough, and that holding in-person voting on June 2 would be a “disaster," potentially leaving the county without enough workers to staff polling places and disenfranchising voters who will stay home in fear for their safety.
The county has received more than 71,000 absentee and mail-in ballot applications so far, 20,000 of which have been processed already.
According to the county, the mailers will cost about 57 cents each, not including the return postage, which is based on how many are returned.
Since the June 2 election is a party primary, only registered Democrats and Republicans will receive applications, except for Bethel Park, where there's a measure on the ballot, county spokeswoman Amie Downs said.
There are currently more than 520,000 registered Democrats and 249,000 registered Republicans in Allegheny County.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1952, Twitter @julianrouth.
First Published: April 17, 2020, 7:59 p.m.
