Lebanon County has set an all-time record for the number of registered voters.
As of close of business on Friday, Oct. 18, there were 94,716 registered voters in Lebanon County.
Sean Drasher, director of Voter Registration/Elections, shared that information during an update with the Lebanon County Election Board, which consists of County Commissioners, following their regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Oct. 17.
“The raw numbers are changing so quickly,” said Drasher. “As fast as we generate them, they are off by a considerable number.”
As of Thursday morning, 14,876 mail-in or absentee ballots had been sent to registered voters that had requested one. That number was expected to rise before the last day to apply for a mail ballot on Tuesday, Oct. 29. (Today is the last day to register to vote for the election on Tuesday, Nov. 5.)
Drasher noted that 6,051 mailed ballots had been returned and recorded as received. “So that’s a pretty good percentage – we’re way ahead of where we normally are at this part in the election cycle,” said Drasher.
Of the number that has been returned as of Thursday morning, the count was 2,421 Republican, or 39 percent, and 3,010 by registered Democrats, or 44 percent. “Overall for the county, it works out right about in the middle at 41 percent,” added Drasher.
He said his office is prepared for high voter turnout in this election cycle.
“We’ve added work stations in the office and we have more to add but we’ve run out of space to add more people, just like physical space to set up more computers at this point,” said Drasher. “We’ve added another phone line and we’ve doubled up on temporary help and we have even more people ready to go but we just don’t have the space to put them right now. But with the space we have, we’re doing a pretty good job.”
Drasher also provided an update on the number of poll workers and canvassers, saying the county is fully staffed with poll workers at 100 percent and is at 130 percent of “where we wanted to be” with the number of canvassers.” Those election workers will help process mail ballots beginning at 7 a.m. on Election Day, which is when those votes can be legally counted.
“That brings up one possible question that we’ll be exploring in the next week,” he said. “We have enough people to expand our footprint if we can find a place to put people to process ballots on Election Day. I’m not exactly sure how to accommodate that, but we have the staff and rather than turn them away, (we) might have something useful for them.”
Drasher added that canvassing can occur anywhere and was asked if Room 207, which is a conference room at the county municipal building, could be used for that purpose on Election Day.
“Other counties that have double or triple our number of voters don’t necessarily have everyone canvassing in one room, they will spread them out across multiple rooms or sites to do so,” he said. “We’ve never had to do that before, but I’m thinking with the volume that we’re going to have this time I’d rather bring in the people since they are available and find the extra space for them.”
Drasher told election board members that the drop-off booth, in the parking lot at the municipal building at 400 S. 8th St., has been doing brisk business. He said the booth has two occupants manning it for several purposes.
“We’re doubling up on workers there to keep things moving and just for another layer of security,” said Drasher. “And we have such a waiting list of people who are willing to help, so I am comfortable with that.”
Lebanon County solicitor Matt Bugli provided an update on a legal matter concerning this election. He told the board that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has decided to make no legal decision concerning whether undated and/or unsigned mail ballots should count.
“Where the law stands right now is that undated mail-in ballots are not to be counted,” said Bugli. “Additionally, mail-in ballots that don’t contain a signature are not to be counted as well. In the orders that came down from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, they will not be making any changes to the way counties count and process their votes.”
On a separate matter concerning the election, Drasher told the board that Logic & Accuracy (L&A) testing was successfully completed and occurred without any hitches, adding the department is very pleased with the testing results. L&A testing is conducted to ensure election and voting equipment function as expected and accurately count votes as marked.
Public inspection of voting machines is scheduled to occur this week, added Bugli.
Another step taken by the elections office prior to Nov. 5 anticipates a possible close vote in the presidential, U.S. Senate or statewide races if the total is less than half of 1 percent.
“Then the Secretary of the Commonwealth will order a recount of all 67 county boards of elections,” said Bugli. “So I’ve begun to look into that process to make sure that we’re ready to go if that occurs. I just wanted to make the board aware that we’re moving in that direction, just making sure all of our i’s are dotted and our t’s are crossed in anticipation for the election.”
Important Dates to Remember
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: GENERAL ELECTION.
Nov. 5: Last day for the County Board of Election to receive voted mail-in and civilian absentee ballots (must be received by 8 p.m.).
Nov. 12: Last day for County Board of Election to receive voted military and overseas absentee ballots (submitted for delivery no later than 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 4).
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