The wait to receive mail-in ballots for the Nov. 5 election is almost over.
If all goes as planned, mail-in and absentee ballots are expected to be sent to those voters who requested them by Oct. 1.
That news was announced by elections director Sean Drasher to the county elections board on Thursday, Sept. 19. The three Lebanon County Commissioners are elections board members except in years when they are seeking re-election.
In a separate vote, the board unanimously approved opening the satellite mail-in ballot drop-off location on Monday, Oct. 7.
The schedule for operating hours is the same as in the spring during the primary election, which was during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) of the county municipal building.
Read More: Local voters return mail-in, absentee ballots on 1st day of new satellite office
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, that location’s operating hours will be the same as voting precincts (7 a.m. to 8 p.m.). Voters also have the option to deliver their ballot to the elections office on the second floor of the county municipal building during the same hours on Election Day or during regular business hours of the county building prior to it.
Also at the meeting, directors took action on a few agenda items, including unanimous acceptance of the upcoming election ballot.
“Everything is going well for the fall election,” said Drasher. “The numbers are extremely strong for the county. You’ll see the growth in the numbers report we left with you. We’re up to – creeping up to – 94,000 (currently 93,648) registered voters, that’s a high point for us.”
Numbers are also strong for those voters requesting a mail-in ballot from the county’s elections office.
“Mail-in (ballots) in the spring, we were at about 8,000,” said Drasher. “Currently, we’re just at about 12,000, which is what we were estimating ending at. So we’re a little ahead of where we’ll end up. We’re bringing in about 50 or so new applications a day.”
The breakdown of ballot requests by category is:
- Mail-in: 11,532
- Absentee: 238
- Military: 40
- Federal: 82
- Oversees: 26
A sheet provided to the press indicates there are 11,918 requests for ballots of the 93,648 registered Lebanon County voters as of the close of business on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Deputy elections director Joy Scarbrough provided an update on the eight-month effort to ensure voter rolls are updated.
“As you know, we did eight months of intensive literal maintenance,” said Scarbrough. “This year we sent out, well, from the last election until today, we sent out over 8,000 letters to do that. From that came 1,800 voters removed.”
Drasher noted that was significant given the number of new registered voters in the county.
“Despite us having net growth – significant net growth – in registered voters, we still wiped out – creeping up on – 2,000 voters from the rolls. So maintenance continues,” Drasher said.
In a follow-up to the meeting, LebTown requested the number of new registrants and that figure broken down by party affiliation.
Scarbrough wrote, “Since 01/01/2024, we have received 5,313 new Voter Registration Applications. Lebanon County Registered Democrats: 26,421. Lebanon County Registered Republicans: 52,033. These numbers are constantly changing.”
Commissioner Bob Phillips asked if the guidelines for purging voter rolls occurs after two national elections.
“During that time, we send out numerous letters to the voter,” said Scarbrough. “In addition to missing two federal elections, they also have to show absolutely no response to those letters.”
Despite the voter roll purge, Drasher said the new high total of Lebanon County registered voters combined with projected voter turnout on Nov. 5 has implications for election officials.
“If you consider what we would project, over 88 percent turnout when you combine mail-in and election day turnout – you can extrapolate the numbers for yourself – it is going to be a very busy day,” said Drasher. “”It’s going to be a very busy few weeks and a very busy final day.”
In providing an update to the directors on next steps leading up to the election, Drasher noted his office is currently on schedule with all of its work.
Drasher said if the board approves the ballot today, which they did, then Logics & Accuracy testing would occur next and mail-in ballots would be printed and at the post office by Oct. 1.
L&A testing seeks to prove the system and its components are accurate and performing as intended by comparing the voting system reports of the ballot scanner results to the known, expected results.
Given that projected schedule, Drasher also requested that the board approve opening the satellite mail-in ballot drop-box on Monday, Oct. 7. That satellite office is located in the parking lot to the rear of the county municipal building at 400 S. 8th St., Lebanon.
“I would humbly propose we do what we did in the spring (election). It worked extremely well, Republicans and Democrats both accepted it. It was very well used,” said Drasher. “We had no problems staffing it. In fact, we had people doubling and tripling up with people wanting to work again even though we had people on the schedule.”
Before unanimously voting to approve using the drop-off location, Phillips asked and Drasher confirmed that individuals manning the booth are trained and that the cameras that the county previously purchased are used when the building is open.
Drasher noted that individuals who were trying to deliver more than one ballot – which is against state law – were turned away daily during the primary election, which is the first election voters could drive-up to drop off their ballot. He added those individuals were in possession of a spouse’s mail-in ballot.
“Always the spouse, but they were turned away and they had to come back, the spouse had to come back,” said Drasher. “So it is working.”
Phillips said he feels only a few days are needed for voters to drop off their mail-in ballot to election officials, but given the volume of expected dropped off mail-in ballots for this election, he was modifying that thinking to provide additional time for voters to deliver theirs to election headquarters.
Drasher also gave a report on high school outreach to include local students as poll workers on Election Day. He said high school students again will be involved in working voting precincts on Nov. 5, including those from Lebanon, Cedar Crest, Palmyra, and New Covenant Christian School.
“We’re going to have a huge number, to be determined, of polling places that are going to be staffed by students this time around,” said Drasher.
Drasher told LebTown after the meeting had adjourned that the students will serve as “extras” during the election and that he will maintain his usual complement of adult election workers at the county’s 60 voter precincts.
“We’re going to treat them as extra hands,” he said. “I don’t want to put the pressure on students to replace a full-time (election) worker. Many of these students have never worked a full shift like that in their life and I wouldn’t want to do that during a presidential election, so they’re going to be treated like extra workers for that day.”
Drasher also gave an update about efforts to educate nursing home residents and staff about election protocols and to provide a forum for questions to be asked and answered. He noted that there have been multiple visits to the same facilities for these educational sessions and that they would be paused until after the election is over.
The election board meeting occurred immediately after the county commissioners’ meeting was adjourned.
Important Election Dates:
- Oct. 21: Last day to REGISTER to vote in the November Election
- Oct. 29: Last day to apply for a mail-in or civilian absentee ballot
- Nov. 5: Last day for the County Board of Elections to receive voted mail-in and civilian absentee ballots (must be received by 8 p.m.)
- Nov. 5: General Election – Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
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