Concerns over massive response to mail-in ballot push for June primary

PITTSBURGH — It’s coming down to the wire for some voters who requested mail-in ballots. Some people haven’t gotten them yet. Others are just receiving them with only days left before the June primary election.

>>>RELATED: Voter guide for Pennsylvania residents who want to vote in June primary

“I started to panic,” Ruth Morrison said. “It said my ballot had been mailed on the 22nd and the results were pending.”

Morrison is one of the voters 11 Investigates’ Angie Moreschi talked with about their concerns with mail-in voting. People like Morrison, of Bellevue, want to make sure their vote counts.

She sent her mail-in ballot application weeks ago.

"About a week or so ago my husband got his ballot in the mail, but I didn't get mine," Morrison said.

If you’ve got a consumer issue that you’d like Angie to investigate, contact her at amoreschi@wpxi.com.

She started to worry when her ballot didn’t come as time continued to pass and Primary Election Day grew ever closer.

And she's not alone. A channel 11 employee received confirmation that his ballot application was received, but as of late Friday had yet to get the ballot.

Allegheny County has had a huge response for mail-in ballot applications, processing more than 280,0000 applications. Officials said all of them have now been mailed and should arrive by Saturday.

It took almost a week, but Morrison finally got her ballot late Thursday. She mailed it back right away but is now worried the county won’t get it time to count her vote.

“If it hadn’t been such a hassle to get the ballots, I would have thought it’d be fine,” she said.

Duplicate Ballots

Other issues, such as several voters getting duplicate ballots, have also raised concerns about a proper vote count. Patrick Worms told Channel 11 he is among those who applied for a mail-in ballot and received two.

“Both my sons did, also,” Worms said. “Out of five people in this household, three of us received double ballots,” he said.

Allegheny County Elections Division Manager Dave Voye said the duplicates were caused by a computer glitch, which was fixed.

He said duplicates won’t be counted if sent in because each voter has a unique bar code on their envelope. When that envelop comes in, the barcode is recorded to prevent double-counting.

Purging non-eligible voters

Some also have concerns about whether the voter rolls are up to date.

Paul Tunnicliffe and his wife moved to Florida in October 2018 and now vote in that state’s elections. Still, he and his wife both received applications for Pennsylvania mail-in ballots.

He destroyed them but worries about others who might take advantage of the situation and try to vote in two locations.

When asked what safeguards the county takes to prevent possible voting by citizens who’ve moved out of state, this statement was provided to Channel 11 by the Allegheny County Communications Director:

"Voters should remove themselves from the voter rolls when they move.

If they move within the state, or to a state that partners with PA, notifications are provided on an ongoing basis with updates that someone has registered in another location. Those records are then reviewed and if they can be confirmed as the person also in our voter rolls would be removed.

Voters who have not voted in a while can be removed from the voter rolls once two presidential elections pass. Written, mailed notices are sent to the voter to advise that they are going to be removed which they can respond to so that they remain on the rolls. Prior to being removed, they would be moved to an inactive status and any activity would move the voter back to an active status.

Likewise, death certificates are provided when filed with the state. Those records are then reviewed and if they can be confirmed as the person also in our voter rolls would be removed. Similarly, the next of kin can notify the office to remove someone who has died from the voter rolls by completing an affidavit form. The same are provided at the polls if someone asks."

Delay in vote count

With such an overwhelming response to mail-in ballots in the state, Gov. Tom Wolf acknowledged there is concern about whether all votes can be counted in a timely manner.

"Each county is working hard to deal with this,” Wolf said. “No one knows how long this is going to take. I would bet there are going to be some delays to bring the vote in.”

The General Assembly did pass legislation to allow the ballot counting to begin earlier. Instead of waiting until the polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday, the counting can begin at 7 a.m. on election day.

Still, the Allegheny County elections manager acknowledges there could be delays.

“The process is time-consuming and it will likely be some time before all of the ballots are counted and full preliminary results available,” Voye said. “Elections staff does intend to stay at the facility and continue counting until we are done, regardless of the time.”

As for Morrison, who was in favor of mail-in ballots but now has concerns, she is repeatedly checking the “VotesPA” website to track her ballot to make sure it gets there in time to be counted.

“I was not expecting this to be this much trouble," she said.

If you didn’t receive your mail-in ballot or if it is lost, damaged or destroyed, you can vote in person at your polling place on election day using a provisional ballot.

You can also drop off your mail-in ballot in person at the county office building before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

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