Mail-in voting in Pennsylvania is continuing to draw more court cases as we near the November general election.
County leaders are now telling state lawmakers that there is a need to standardize mail-in requirements for all counties, as well as more funding to process mail-in votes.
In Centre County, the number of registered voters is increasing rapidly.
“Today, we have our total on the report as 103,815 total voters. That’s up 1,034 from last week.”
Over a thousand new voters in the county in the past week alone and past elections point to a growing percentage of voters using mail-in ballots.
That increased use is also drawing more court challenges.
This week, during a state senate hearing, a representative from the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania told legislators that more state legal guidelines is desired, instead of leaving key mail-in issues up to county election boards.
“The current lack of clarity leads to lawsuits and misinformation about election processing. We must collaborate with the legislature to craft legislative language to avoid future challenges.”
Mail-in voting in many counties means more oversight, more staffing and more costs for taxpayers.
“Some of these costs may have doubled in certain counties, with no ongoing state support to alleviate the burden on property taxpayers.”
The previously approved Act 88 in the state legislature included the Election Integrity Grant Program, which provided 45 million dollars in the most recent round of funding for counties.
