Westmoreland GOP commissioners again nix drop boxes for mail-in ballots

Westmoreland County’s two Republican commissioners denied a request from several voters to install drop boxes throughout the county in advance of the April 23 primary.

Commissioners heard from seven voters during the elections board meeting Thursday who urged them to approve drop-off boxes for mail-in ballots.

Neither of the two Republicans, Sean Kertes and Doug Chew, indicated they would change their stance for the primary, nor for the general election in November, when turnout is expected to be higher.

Democratic Commissioner Ted Kopas was in favor of installing at least one drop-off box behind the county courthouse on North Pennsylvania Avenue, but he did not get any support for that idea.

Nor did Kopas’ request for the elections board to recess its meeting rather than adjourn it so the board could consider the possibility of placing a drop-off box. Kopas said he has yet to hear his fellow commissioners offer a legitimate argument against the drop boxes.

“Your decision to ignore Kopas, in my opinion, is voter suppression,” said Diana Steck of North Huntingdon, one of the Democrats to raise objections to the commissioners.

The drop boxes that had been used in the past few elections have been underused, Kertes said. To install drop boxes at various sites would require the county paying an employee to watch the boxes so there is no voter fraud occurring.

Requiring voters to go to the Elections Bureau on the first floor of the courthouse to drop off their ballots instead of having a drop box in the courthouse lobby isn’t much of an inconvenience, Kertes said.

“The cost (of monitoring drop boxes) is a smokescreen,” when 8,000 voters had previously used the drop box in the courthouse, said Jerome Selia of Murrysville.

Drop boxes should be scattered throughout the county to make it easier for voters with mail-in ballots, Steck said. Finding open parking spaces near the courthouse in Greensburg during the day is a challenge because of limited parking around the building on North Main Street, she said.

Greensburg has a parking garage on West Otterman Street, but people have to walk uphill to the courthouse, and that can be hard for anyone with disabilities or illness, she said.

Even if one drop box is placed outside the courthouse in Greensburg, that would be beneficial to voters, Steck said.

“Relying on the mail is not 100% foolproof,” Steck said.

Responding to complaints about the delivery of the mail-in ballots, Chew said the ballots received by the elections bureau are recorded each day and information is placed online so voters can see if their ballot was received by the county.

After the meeting, Chew said the county has made it easier for voters with mail-in ballots to register their votes by sending them postage-paid envelopes for their ballots.

“We worked hard to make sure they (ballots) got out in time” for voters to mark them and return them, Chew said.

While a heavy voter turnout is expected in November, Chew said only 75% of mail-in ballots were returned in the 2020 presidential election.

While the commissioners previously said the drop boxes were underutilized in recent elections, Lisa Messineo of Penn Township said they would be used much more in a presidential election year than during the midterm elections two years ago.

The failure of the Republican commissioners to approve drop boxes for the county “sure feels like and looks like an effort at voter suppression,” Selia said.

Chris Baldonieri of Latrobe questioned why the commissioners will not permit drop boxes.

“Do the right thing, or come up with an excuse to do the wrong thing,” Baldonieri challenged the Republican commissioners.

“It’s not a partisan issue,” Steck said.