David Kaplan Profile picture
Currently: Freelance Reporter @fox5dc Like/RT not endorsement. "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." -Mark Twain

Aug 25, 2020, 8 tweets

Allegheny County Mail-In Voting latest:

Number of ballots requested: 200,024
Democratic voter ballots requested: 151,224
Republican voter ballots requested: 38,896
Total voters in county: ~906,000

County elections board expecting 2/3 of voters to cast mail-in ballots.

#WTAE

One of the biggest things elections officials across the state want is the ability to start counting these mail-in ballots earlier.

Rich Fitzgerald says it would help alleviate the stress placed on elections officials after election day and help move the counting along.

Currently, the state law only allows mail-in ballots to be counted when the polls open on election day.

Last week, I spoke with democratic senator Wayne Fontana, who authored a bill to try and address these issues, but ran into headwinds in Republican controlled legislature.

Last night, senate leaders introduced election reform legislation, S.B. 10.

Part of that does include letting boards of elections pre-canvass votes, among other things. See attached picture.

#WTAE

Legislative session starts next week.

I'm told by an official the pre-canvassing being included is huge.

That said, the Governor's office is expressing some concerns about this bill.

#WTAE

Tom Wolf's office concerned with the proposed bill's moving the deadline to request a mail-in application UP.

Gov. worries that it will limit access to the ballot.

That said, USPS warned Pennsylvania that its deadlines are too tight.

Hard to know how this will all play out.

If you've requested ballot and not gotten it: It's normal!

Ballot itself is still being finalized, typically third party's going through judicial appeals to get on ballot.

I'm told current law allows ballots to be sent out 50 days in advance, or when legal challenges settle.

*that's 50 days in advance of the election*

That would be about 3 weeks, mid-September.

Long story short, register now, check your registration now, request your mail-in ballot now.

votespa.com/Pages/default.…

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