November’s general election showed definitively that Pennsylvanians have a massive appetite for more convenient voting options, specifically the ability to cast a ballot early in person so that they aren’t limited to Election Day as their only option.
Act 77, the law that allowed for no-excuse mail ballots, does not provide for true in-person early voting, but it does allow counties, if they choose, to set up a process by which voters can come to a satellite election office, apply for a mail ballot, and fill it out and submit in person.
At least seven of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties took advantage of this option and designed robust programs that would allow their residents to cast early mail-in ballots as conveniently as possible. Allegheny County opened 10 satellite election offices . Montgomery County opened eight satellite election offices and rolled out a first-of-its-kind “voter van,” a full service mobile satellite election office that traveled the county in the run-up to Election Day.
In the counties that rolled out early vote by mail in person, the option was overwhelmingly popular, but confusion and misinformation undermined these efforts. Because, unlike with traditional in-person voting where voters can simply give their name and cast their ballot, just like on Election Day, the in-person vote by mail process requires voters to: fill out a vote-by-mail application, wait for it to be processed by an election worker, then fill out their ballot and make sure they properly seal both envelopes, and properly fill out the outer envelope.
This is far from a seamless process, and it led to delays and confusion at election offices that weren’t prepared for the overwhelming surge of interest in a more convenient manner of making their voices heard at the ballot box. National news organizations that didn’t fully comprehend the nuances of Act 77 added to the confusion by erroneously reporting that early voting was beginning in Pennsylvania.
The confusion around the rules of early voting by mail affected both parties. President-elect Donald Trump personally intervened to force Bucks County officials to extend their early vote-by-mail hours, and in Allentown, road closures due to a Trump visit in Allentown at the end of the early vote-by-mail-in-person period led a judge to provide an extension for voters in this Democratic leaning enclave as well.
It is not surprising that voters have such an appetite for more convenient voting options. People have busy lives with jobs and family responsibilities that may make it difficult to make it to the polling place on one single election day. Folks with disabilities may have trouble finding transportation or someone to assist them in casting their ballot. Other people just don’t fully trust that it won’t get lost in the mail.
Unfortunately, Pennsylvania remains an outlier in providing convenient voting options to its citizens. Currently more than 15 states, including deep blue California, and deep red Florida, offer more convenient early voting options than Pennsylvania does, and as the birthplace of American democracy, it is incumbent upon us to do better.
Fortunately, a vehicle to do just that already exists.
In last year’s session, Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton introduced a historic piece of legislation that would establish a two-week early voting in-person window in Pennsylvania, and it has more than 70 co-sponsors. Additionally, many Republican representatives voted in favor of an amendment that included the same early vote language from this bill. It is abundantly clear that Pennsylvanians, regardless of political party, want true, in-person early voting.
At Pennsylvania Voice, we believe that true democracy requires full participation from the electorate, and look forward to the re-introduction of this bill in the new legislative session. So, as the General Assembly reconvenes in January, it is critically important that legislators from both sides of the aisle come together to advance this legislation and therefore deliver what all their constituents so clearly want: a more convenient way to participate in our democracy.
Salewa Ogunmefun is executive director of Pennsylvania Voice.