More ballot delays in Westmoreland County

More delays in the mailing of ballots to Westmoreland voters ahead of the Nov. 3 general election could prompt county commissioners to take back control over the process that was shipped out-of-state last month.

Commissioner Sean Kertes said Monday internal discussions are underway to have elections bureau staff at the courthouse in Greensburg print and mail out ballots as Election Day approaches should delays continue.

“We’re monitoring it every day and looking at the numbers,” Kertes said.

Cleveland-based Midwest Direct, the company hired to print and mail ballots to county voters, has sent out 64,604, including 12,961 on Monday, county elections officials said

With the deadline for voters to for apply mail-in ballots a week away on Oct. 27, Kertes said there is concern about Midwest Direct’s ability to finish the job in a timely manner.

This year, for the first time, voters are permitted to cast ballots from home without any specific reason to do so. That change, coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, caused the numbers of voters choosing the mail-in option to grow beyond initial expectations. More than 80,000 mail-in ballot applications could be used in Westmoreland County for the November election, a number that officials said was beyond the capacity of local elections staff.

About 40,000 voters used mail-in ballots for the spring primary in June. Those ballots were sent out by in-house elections bureau staffers.

As of Monday, more than 70,000 applications were approved and processed this fall with another week remaining before the deadline, according to Elections Bureau JoAnn Sebastiani.

“They said they’re trying to get caught up,” Sebastiani said of Midwest’s performance.

Mailing of the first batch of ballots was delayed nearly a week. Westmoreland voters first started to receive mail-in ballots on the Oct. 10. County officials said Midwest Direct blamed the delay on mechanical issues. Meanwhile, other counties in Ohio who hired the same company reported similar delays and a processing error resulted in about 29,000 voters in Allegheny County who received the wrong ballots from Midwest Direct.

“We’re holding them accountable for the ballots. I’d rather there be delays than to send out ballots not processed correctly,” Kertes said.

Still, as the deadline approaches, the county said it will prepare to do some of the mailing work itself to ensure voters receive ballots on time so they can be returned and counted. A decision could be made this week, Kertes said.

Mail-in ballots must be returned in person or postmarked by 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Ballots that are postmarked on Nov. 3 and arrive at the courthouse through the mail by Nov. 6 will be counted, officials said, following a statewide ruling.

The elections bureau office was busy Monday as voters queued up in a long first-floor hallway at the courthouse to apply for and turn in mail-in ballots or register to vote at the eleventh hour. Monday was last day to register to vote in the November election.

County officials last week approved the placement of a drop box inside the lobby of the courthouse that will be available daily starting Oct. 21. Drop boxes will also be placed in Latrobe, Youngwood, New Kensington, Monessen and Murrysville during the next two weekends.

As of Monday, 20,588 completed ballots had been returned to the elections bureau.

Voters can track the status of their ballots on the Pennsylvania Department of State website.