Westmoreland won't have ballot drop boxes in November

Westmoreland County’s three-member elections board rejected a proposal to install a drop box for mail-in ballots in the courthouse lobby.

Common Pleas Judges Tim Krieger and Justin Walsh declined to vote on the pitch from the elections bureau this week to place a single box near the main courthouse entrance in Greensburg and, in doing so, reversed a policy approved last spring.

Michelle McFall, chairwoman of the county’s Democratic committee, blasted the decision as a partisan maneuver to limit a voter’s ability to cast ballots in the November election.

“To not even conduct a vote is very disappointing, and it is a reflection of partisan politics that has no place in our elections,” McFall said. “It’s not so much where it is, but that many voters who vote by mail have become accustomed to certain processes. Why take away something that makes it easier?”

In most years, the elections board is made up of the three county commissioners. Commissioners recused themselves from overseeing this year’s election because they are on the ballot seeking new terms in office. Krieger and Walsh, both former Republican members of the state House, along with Democrat Michael Stewart, are the current members of the elections board.

Based on a suggestion from the county elections bureau, Stewart proposed one drop box just inside courthouse’s Main Street entrance, located around a corner and feet away from the elections bureau. Neither Krieger nor Walsh supported taking a vote on the proposal.

“The drop box would be 50 feet from the front door of the election office, so this isn’t that big of an inconvenience,” Krieger said.

Walsh declined to elaborate on his position. “I’m comfortable with my decision,” he said.

Stewart, and now former Democratic Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher, approved placement of a drop box at the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance of the courthouse last spring. Thrasher resigned as commissioner this summer and Walsh assumed her role on the elections board.

“I’m in favor of anything that makes voting easier, and we’ve done it before,” Stewart said of the drop box proposal.

County officials placed the drop box at the back door of the courthouse last spring while the building’s front courtyard and primary Main Street entrance was closed amid a yearlong reconstruction of an underground parking garage. The Main Street door reopened in August.

Elections Bureau Director Greg McCloskey said 488 voters used the drop box in the spring. About 24,000 voters cast ballots by mail in the May primary.

Commissioners initially allowed the use of drop boxes, including several installed at regional locations throughout the county, for the 2020 presidential election and again in 2021. No drop boxes were authorized in 2022.

“Having a drop box in the courthouse only alleviates foot traffic at the courthouse. It’s a nonissue to me,” Republican Committee Chairman Bill Bretz said. “I don’t feel this is any kind of setback. In principle, I’m not a fan of drop boxes.”

Voters still will be able to cast mail-in ballots in person at the courthouse, and the board Tuesday approved extended hours of operation for the elections bureau in the two weeks before the Nov. 7 election.

Beginning Oct. 24, the elections bureau will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. The office will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election Day.