Low voter turnout expected across Western Pennsylvania on Election Day

Most counties in the area are predicting low voter turnout ahead of Tuesday’s election — typical for an election year with no presidential or congressional races.

Only about a fourth of registered voters are expected to cast ballots in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties and a little more than a third of registered voters will likely turn up at the polls in Armstrong and Butler counties, according to election officials.

Beth Lechman, Westmoreland County elections director, predicted a turnout of 25% of 27% for Westmoreland. She expected voters to be deterred by the weather forecast of high winds and rain but acknowledged that turnout could be better if the forecast is wrong.

The county has two Common Pleas Court judge positions up for election, in addition to races for county commissioner, sheriff and other countywide seats and various municipal offices.

Most notable, said Lechman, is a highly contested race for the Franklin Regional School Board. That race has 10 candidates competing for six seats. The campaigns are largely divided over a proposed $54 million project to renovate Sloan Elementary School into a K-2 building and construct a new school for grades 3-5.

Allegheny County is predicting a voter turnout of 27%, said David Voye, director of Allegheny County’s Elections Division.

Voye said the key race for the county in this cycle is for district attorney. It features a showdown between incumbent Stephen A. Zappala Jr. and challenger Lisa Middleman. Pittsburgh residents also will be asked to vote on a referendum seeking funding for city parks. The proposal would increase property taxes a half-mill to fund park improvements and maintenance.

Anticipating short or no lines at the polls, some counties are using the off-year to introduce new voter machines, designed to increase security and keep paper records of each vote.

Butler and Armstrong counties are implementing a new paper-based ballot system, in response to a state directive that each county establish verifiable paper ballots by 2020.

Dozens of states are seeking to improve election security by returning to paper ballots. Pennsylvania was accused in 2016 of using voting machines susceptible to hacking. In 2018, state legislators agreed that voter-verifiable paper ballots should be required for every voter, and that voting machines should be inspected to ensure vote count accuracy.

Shari Brewer, director of the Butler County Bureau of Elections, said the office is implementing the system now instead of making the change during the presidential election.

Brewer said Butler is expecting 30% to 35% of registered voters to show up at the polls, based on the number of absentee ballots the office has received. She expects no delays in results or accuracy as a result of the paper-based system, as long as voters read and follow the instructions carefully.

While voter turnout is expected to be low, Brewer said there are a number of municipal office openings of importance, including a judicial race and several school boards.

“This is the way you voice what you want with your government,” Brewer said. “These are the elected officials that handle your everyday issues — your roads, your community parks, things like that.”

Armstrong County is also moving to the new paper-based ballot system, according to Jennifer Bellas, director of elections. To prepare the county for the change, Bellas conducted voter education classes months before the election.

Classes were poorly attended, but Bellas is not concerned.

In Armstrong, turnout of registered voters is expected to reach at least 38%. Bellas said she has issued more absentee ballots this year than in the past two municipal elections — suggesting a larger-than-normal turnout for a nonpresidential election cycle.

With three county commissioner positions open for election, Bellas encouraged Armstrong voters to turn out despite the lack of major federal races.

“All of our decisions start here,” she said.