HARRISBURG (TNS) — Despite the latest Franklin & Marshal Poll findings that show voters’ growing dissatisfaction with Pennsylvania’s election procedures, voter interest in participating in the democratic process through mailed ballots remains strong.
Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth Leigh Chapman told reporters during a conference call on Thursday that to date, more than 762,000 voters — 649,481 Democrats; 196,430 Republicans; and 6,391 other party registrants — had applied for a no-excuse mail-in ballot to participate in the May 17 primary.
The deadline to apply for a ballot to vote by mail — either a no-excuse ballot or an absentee ballot — is Tuesday.
Many Republican lawmakers as well as the nine GOP gubernatorial candidates oppose no-excuse mail-in voting and want to end it. They blame it for the rise in concern about the integrity of Pennsylvania’s elections and a primary source of voter dissatisfaction.
Franklin & Marshall’s poll conducted between April 20 and May 1 found that 52% of respondents said they are unhappy with the state’s election system, with 30% saying they are very dissatisfied and 22% somewhat dissatisfied.
The state appellate court also has made known its dissatisfaction. A panel of Commonwealth Court judges struck down Act 77 of 2019 that allowed this voting option, saying it requires a change in the constitution. But the law remains in effect while it is on appeal and the state Supreme Court says otherwise.
Since it was first implemented in 2020, more than 4 million votes have been cast using this voting option, Chapman said.
“It’s unfortunate that there have been efforts recently in the commonwealth to make it harder to vote and not expand access to the ballot box,” Chapman said. “We really should be focused on increasing access.”
So far for the upcoming primary, she said about 160,000 of the mailed ballots had been returned to county election office with the rate of returning picking up now that the primary is less than two weeks away, she said.
Mailed ballots must be returned to the county election office no later than 8 p.m. on May 17 if they are to be counted. They can be mailed, hand-carried to the county election office, or placed in a dropbox which only 22 counties including Dauphin and Lebanon counties in southcentral Pennsylvania are making available for this election.
Chapman said U.S. Postal Service officials gave an assurance last week that it will expedite delivery of election mail.
“They told us the current delivery standards are around three days,” she said. “However, we are encouraging voters to return their ballots as soon as possible.”
She further suggested voters who are within the week before the primary election to consider hand-carrying their ballot to a dropbox if one is available in their county, or to the county election office to ensure their vote is counted.
More than 8.7 million Pennsylvanians are registered to vote. However, the only ones eligible to vote in the upcoming primary are those registered as a Republican or Democrat or who live in a community with a referendum on the ballot. There is also a special election in the 5th Senatorial District in Philadelphia to fill an open seat.
According to Department of State statistics, more than 22,400 Democrats switched their party affiliation to Republican to participate in the GOP primary featuring heated contests for U.S. Senate and governor along with other state and congressional races on May 17.
That was quadruple the 5,430 Republicans who changed their registration to Democrat this year. And even more, nearly 18,100 voters registered to either of the major parties jumped ship to register as an independent or to a third-party.
Other election reminders to keep in mind:
Unofficial election results will be posted on the department’s website as soon as they are available but Chapman said counties have up to 20 days to complete their vote counts.
