Westmoreland County approves drop box sites for mail-in ballots

Westmoreland County will have drop boxes at five regional sites before the Nov. 3 general election to help collect tens of thousands of expected mail-in ballots.

Voters started to receive ballots this week, and as of Thursday, more than 51,600 were sent. Another 9,600 are in the queue to be mailed in the coming days, according to county officials.

Commissioners said the drop boxes should ease concerns among voters that their ballots will arrive in time to be counted at the courthouse.

“This frees up the post office,” said Commissioner Doug Chew. “But I still have faith the post office will handle the mail for the election.”

Starting Wednesday, Oct. 21, a drop box will be stationed from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week inside the lobby of the Westmoreland County Courthouse on Main Street in Greensburg. It will remain open through Election Day.

Drop boxes at Westmoreland County Community College on Fifth Avenue in New Kensington, Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity and the county’s Adult Probation Office on Riverview Drive in Monessen will open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24.

On Sunday, Oct. 25, drop boxes will be available in the Student Achievement Center building at Westmoreland County Community College near Youngwood, and the community college building on Mellon Road in Murrysville from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Collections will resume Saturday, Oct. 31, at the community college sites in Murrysville and Youngwood from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Sunday, Nov. 1, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the drop boxes will be available at the WCCC building in New Kensington, the airport and the Monessen probation office.

“We tried to pick the four corners of the county (for drop box sites), but it was difficult,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes.

Drop boxes will be anchored to the ground, monitored by two county employees and video surveillance. Voters are only allowed to leave their own ballots. County staff will be on duty to enforce that.

“We wanted the drop boxes on the weekends for people who can’t make it to the courthouse. We thought weekends were best,” said Commissioner Gina Cerilli.

The nonpartisan grassroots Voice of Westmoreland had lobbied for six regional drop boxes to operate daily through Election Day in Monessen, New Kensington, Latrobe, Ligonier, Mt. Pleasant and Rostraver.

“This is woefully inadequate to allow people to get their ballots in,” said Clare Dooley, Voice of Westmoreland leader of the county’s plan. “It’s not sufficient.”

Mail-in ballots were a major issue over the last week after county officials were besieged with complaints from voters when technical problems experienced by an Ohio-based company hired to mail the ballots delayed the process by a week.

The delay prompted an overflow of phone calls to the elections bureau and left some voters frustrated that they couldn’t get through. Elections Bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani said the volume of calls exceeded the capacity of the courthouse’s telephone system.

Officials said voters are receiving ballots and the phone system can now accommodate calls to the elections bureau.

Sebastiani said the bureau will begin posting daily updates on the county’s website regarding the number of mail-in ballots sent and received.

More than 61,200 voters in the county have been approved to receive mail-in ballots with more expected over the next two weeks.

As of Thursday, the county received more than 1,000 returned and completed ballots. Ballots must be post marked by Election Day on Nov. 3 and arrive at the courthouse no later than Nov. 6 to be counted.

Voters have until Oct. 27 to request to vote by mail.