Allegheny County could expand return options for voters who want to use a mail-in ballot this fall. After deploying a network of seven staffed drop-off sites this spring, officials say they will consider adding up to three more locations for the November election.
“We're not going to make any concrete decisions right now, but we are going to … gather information … and then make a recommendation to the administration in the Board of Elections,” Department of Administrative Services director Jessica Garofolo said at a Wednesday public meeting held by the county Elections Division.
Drop-off locations allow voters to bring in their completed absentee or mail-in ballots and deposit them with county staff — an option for those who are worried their ballot may get lost in the mail or not be received in time. The Board of Elections approved six ballot drop-off locations for the April primary election, in addition to a site in downtown’s County Office Building, where the Elections Division itself has its offices.
The county first used the approach during the 2020 election, when the COVID-19 pandemic interfered with typical voting procedures. Though it was initially mired in controversy, the program was rebooted last spring.
Approximately 2,800 people used the seven return sites over the course of two weekends prior to that primary election. Garofolo and other elections officials acknowledged that was a small fraction of the nearly 96,000 mail-in and absentee ballots returned.
Garofolo noted that the primary had “an exceptionally low voter turnout,” and said the return sites weren’t “widely used. But I don't blame that on the accessibility as much as it wasn't a hotly contested election.”
Roughly 26,000 people did not return their mail-in or absentee ballot at all in the primary, and elections officials said Wednesday they’re trying to figure out why.
“We still have these hot pockets of people that are just not turning them in, and we're trying to figure out why. It covers all ages, demographics, socioeconomic factors,” Garofolo said. “It's really spread out.”
They’re also discussing where additional drop-off sites will best serve residents; factors at play could include location and accessibility of the sites, as well as the hours of operation. While the locations that operated in April were chosen based on geography, Garofolo said any sites used this fall will be strategically located in communities where mail-in ballot return rates were low.
The county is also conducting a survey asking voters what kind of election surveys they would most like to see in the future. Responses are due by Sept. 3.
The primary, Garofolo said, was “kind of a soft rollout” for using return sites in the fall, when the Presidential election and other contested races are expected to attract much more interest from voters.
“I think it's going to be the other end of the spectrum,” Garofolo said of turnout this fall. “It's going to be an extremely high voter turnout, and you're going to see an increased number of people utilizing these locations.”
County spokesperson Abigail Gardner said a new plan for ballot drop-off sites will be presented to, and voted on by, the Board of Elections at the next meeting on Sept. 9.
The deadline to apply for an absentee or mail-in ballot for the general election is Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. Ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.
