Butler last in mail-in ballot return, site says
A website shared on social media by the Butler County Democratic Committee claims the county comes in dead last in mail-in ballots returned and recorded.
The website, called “electproject,” said as of Monday, 8,356 of the 38,326 mail-in ballots requested have been returned to the bureau of elections, or 21.8%.
That is the lowest number in the state, according to electproject, which claims its information came from Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar.
Wanda Murran, director of communications for Boockvar, confirmed that the numbers match those recorded in the state elections system.
Neighboring Beaver County had 23,933 of the 33,910 mail-in ballots requested returned, Armstrong County saw 3,573 of their 8,573 mail-in ballots returned, and Venango County had 4,711 of their 7,427 requested mail-in ballots returned, according to the site.
Discourse on the county Democratic Committee Facebook page has been that of concern among Democratic voters that their ballots would not arrive in time to be counted in the Nov. 3 general election, which is just one week away.
Many mail-in voters who have received their ballots are taking them to the elections bureau instead of mailing them.
Catherine Lalonde, chairwoman of the county Democratic Committee, said she has been inundated with calls from voters who have not yet received their mail-in ballots.
“We are getting constant calls about, 'Where's my ballot?'” Lalonde said.
She said many people requested a mail-in ballot for the general election when they voted by mail in the June primary election, but still have not received their ballots.
Others have students in college who have not yet received their mail-in ballots and have driven several hours to get their students and bring them to the county elections bureau to vote.
“I know a lot of people are anxious,” Lalonde said. “We're a week from the election and we're looking into what happens with students who are away.”
She is also aware of 10 voters at a local retirement home who are unable to travel to the elections bureau to vote who have not received their mail-in ballots.
But Aaron Sheasley, Butler County Bureau of Elections director, said Friday that while many factors have slowed the process of scanning in completed mail-in ballots at his office, everyone will have a chance to cast their ballot by Nov. 3.
Sheasley said a table with two manned terminals has been added in the vestibule at the County Government Center, so those with completed mail-in ballots can drop them off without having to access the elections bureau office.In addition to the elections bureau personnel manning the sealed terminals, the county's sheriffs deputies are keeping an eye on the terminals, which are available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.At the end of each workday, Sheasley and another bureau employee bring the terminals into a locked room and they are not touched until the next morning when they are put out again.He said hundreds of people stood in line outside of the elections bureau office Monday to get an on-the-spot mail in ballot and immediately hand in their vote, request a mail-in ballot, or just ask questions about the election.Blue tape on the floor encouraged social distancing, which he said is overseen by elections bureau workers.Sheasley said the reasons for the lag in scanning in the returned ballots are many, including thousands of duplicate ballot requests arriving at the bureau, an abundance of caution on Sheasley's part to ensure one voter gets one vote and that all ballots are properly presented, ballots being returned as undeliverable by the Post Office, the continued sending of mail-in ballots, the thousands of calls being handled by temporary staff hired by the bureau and hundreds voting at the elections bureau each day.All of that takes the time of elections workers, both permanent and temporary workers hired from two agencies in the county.“It's finding the time to scan them in,” Sheasley said of the low number of returned ballots recorded by the state.Although the state Supreme Court recently ruled that nonmatching signatures are no longer a reason to deny a ballot, Sheasley said he continues to match signatures in case that ruling is challenged and repealed after the election.Regarding duplicate mail-in ballot applications, Sheasley said he has received 5,000 to 10,000 duplicate requests for ballots.“Some people have sent in as many as 15,” he said.Sheasley stopped short of saying voters sending in multiple requests for a mail-in ballot have malicious intent, but he said it definitely slows down the processing of legitimate ballots.“The system is flooded with them and the only way to know if they are new or duplicate is to process them,” he said. “That takes time.”Those who submit duplicate requests get a letter or email saying their request was a duplicate and is being denied, which also uses the precious time of the elections bureau personnel.“Even if there is malicious intent with the duplicates, we are fighting through it to get to the end result of everyone being able to vote,” Sheasley said.Leslie Osche, the county commissioners chairwoman, said she and her two fellow commissioners have been in constant contact with Sheasley to monitor the election process.She agrees that the quality checks put in place by Sheasley and his attention to accuracy are the reasons for the low return numbers for mail-in ballots.“His concern is accuracy,” Osche said.Regarding rumors that the county's mail-in return numbers are low because Butler County is largely Republican, including a GOP majority on the board of commissioners, Osche said Sheasley is running the election process and he is politically neutral.“I don't think the elections director is partisan one way or the other,” Osche said. “He's just scanning at the pace he can scan.”She said the elections bureau has three terminals and two people scanning in mail-in ballots.“It's just a matter of trying to keep up,” Osche said.Regarding a perceived lag in mail-in voters receiving ballots, Sheasley said a glitch occurred in the state elections system for voters who checked the box on their primary election ballot to receive one for the general election.He said ballots began being mailed Sept. 23, and he believes the U.S. Post Office has done a sufficient job in delivering them.“We are working with the people who haven't (received their ballots) and making sure they are getting them,” Sheasley said.He said anyone with a mail-in ballot request on file can bring their ballots — secured properly in both envelopes provided — to their polling site and give it to the judge of elections on site.Those voters will then sign a form stating that they surrendered their ballot to the judge of elections.Voters recorded as a mail-in ballot can also vote at their precinct without a mail-in ballot, but will receive a provisional ballot that will be approved later if they have not voted via a mail-in ballot, Sheasley said.He said he ordered extra provisional ballots to cover those needs on Election Day.Sheasley, a Cranberry Township resident, said he has not been home since Thursday.He showers at the government center and sleeps on the couch in his office, which he will continue to do for as long as necessary.“We are making every effort humanly possible to make sure everyone will have a chance to vote, absolutely,” Sheasley said.
