Mail-in ballots to be mailed in early October for November election

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

Oct. 6 is the planned drop date for mail-in ballots to be sent to voters who requested theirs for the upcoming municipal election on Nov. 4.

Elections director Sean D. Drasher told election board members at a meeting on Thursday, Sept. 18, that the ballots would undergo logic and accuracy testing beginning Monday, Sept. 29.

“The ballots would go out – traditionally in Lebanon County we go out the last day of logic and accuracy testing or the Monday following,” Drasher said. “That’ll be four weeks ahead of the election.”

Thorough testing ensures election and voting equipment function as expected and accurately count votes as marked. Documenting the tests is critical as this is the point where most voting equipment transitions into “election mode.”

It was stated that testing would take about one week. 

Election ballot approved

The election board unanimously approved the ballot, which Drasher said prior to the vote had been sent to them for review and had been available for public review for two weeks. He noted that several suggestions were received and those changes were made to the ballot.

“Every day I put out an updated version of the ballot,” Drasher said in response to a question about the suggestions provided to his office.

State law requires all mail-in ballots must be in the possession of the Lebanon County elections office when polls close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. That means ballots that are received after polls close on Election Day will not be valid.  

Mail ballot drop-off at county building

Drasher said it’s been a tradition to open the mail-in drop-off point in the parking lot of the county municipal building about one week after the ballots are mailed to voters who request one. The date approved for the drop-off location for this election cycle is Tuesday, Oct. 14, the day after Columbus Day.

“We’ve been going one week post-mail, the week following mailing, is when we set that up and we’ve been going election to election on that, so I would ask for approval for deploying the drop-off point because that will be before the next board of election meeting,” he said.

In another action involving the drop-off booth, Drasher asked and was given permission to standardize when it opens to accept mail-in ballots. He said that will avoid bringing that request to the election board before each election, especially since it’s been general practice to open it one week after mail ballots are sent to voters.

Potential polling place change

The election board also unanimously gave approval to tentatively move the North Lebanon East (E-27) polling place to Kimmerlings Grange, 990 Mount Zion Road. That potential move is contingent on whether permission is granted by the close of business on Friday, Sept. 26, to keep it at its current location, which is in the former Blue Max Bingo Hall, 1538 Suzy St., Lebanon. 

“There were several written notices that went out from the election office. I called the new entity that owns, it’s a religious entity. I was able to speak to somebody on Tuesday who indicated that he was going to speak to the rest of his congregation and see if this is something that they are comfortable with us using the property for moving forward,” Matt Bugli, county solicitor, said. “We did express that it seems to be a good polling location. It’s been used for several years. But we also respect that it’s now their property, and they can certainly do with their property what they want to do with it.”

Possible opposition from the religious group led election officials to scout eight new locations in North Lebanon Township.

“He did indicate that there may be some opposition. So in an effort to plan accordingly, this is why the alternative option of Kimmerlings Grange is being presented. Because there are certain notice requirements that have to be given with sufficient time to notify the voters that there has been a change in their polling location,” said Bugli. “It’s an excellent location. But in light of what could be this afternoon or tomorrow, they’re coming back with a rejection that we would approve moving forward with this as an alternate site.”

Here is a link to the locations of all 60 Lebanon County voting precincts.

Campaign finance portal

Drasher announced that the office had launched a web page for candidates to file their campaign finance reports.

In an email to LebTown, Drasher wrote that the “candidate focused sub-page to our County webpage is at Lebanon County PA – Candidates & Campaigns.”

It’s a work in progress.  Just a minimal amount of info up there now.  But we will expand and add content,” he wrote. 

Drasher highlighted the video that’s on that page, adding that it was produced in Lebanon County using local talent. 

“The driving issue behind the video is that we have this amazing campaign finance tool that makes filing MUCH easier for candidates,” he wrote in his email. “The public facing portion of our campaign finance portal is very well used and the feedback has been incredibly positive.  People love having access to the petitions and reports.”  

Drasher encouraged candidates in his email to use the portal by logging in and filing their information “in a fraction of the time” it takes to fill out the paper forms. During the election board meeting, he also stated that while the web page is pretty basic right now, it still contains useful information. 

“We have an instructional video, we have some guidelines on filling out the paperwork, very basic, nothing that crosses any legal guidelines. Just for dates and these are the forms to use,” Drasher said. “I’d like to continue to work on that in the next year to make it more robust and more useful. So before we get to the next municipal cycle we’ll have some better information out there.”

Other election board action

Election board members also unanimously voted to: 

• Purchase a new letter folding machine for $18,750 to replace one that is broken and whose parts are obsolete. The purchase will be made using state-provided Election Integrity Grant funding.
• Approve the minutes of their April 17, May 20, and May 23 meetings.

The election board also thanked deputy elections director Joy Scarborough for her service to the department. Scarborough and her family are moving to another state.

Important election dates

Oct. 20 – Last day to register to vote.

Oct. 28 – Last day to apply for a mail-in or civilian absentee ballot.

Nov. 4 – Election Day. Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.