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- Representative Chris Carney: Keep standing up for us, not the insurance companies
- Representative Jason Altmire: Listen to us, not the insurance companies
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More on the Absentee Failure. Update: Seventy asks for Extension.
Submitted by Dan U-A on Mon, 11/03/2008 - 1:22pm.
Bill Rubin, in charge of the city's absentee-ballot operations, said that any absentee-ballot requests that came in by Oct. 24, a Friday, were handled by the end of that day, giving people enough time to receive the ballot in the mail and to return it last Friday, the deadline.
Problem is, Pennsylvania law allowed voters to request absentee ballots as late as last Tuesday. Rubin said that those requests had been handled immediately, but even so, that provided only three days for a voter to receive the ballot in the mail and get it back to election officials by Friday's deadline.
Committee of Seventy president Zack Stalberg said that his election-watchdog group got about 100 calls last week from people who said they'd applied for absentee ballots but hadn't received them.
"It's disappointing that they didn't get them all out in time," Stalberg said. "I realize there's heavy demand, but it's something they should be able to accomplish."
Absentee ballots that arrived in the mail on Saturday or later still will be counted in the races for president and Congress, but to be counted, they have to arrive by 8 p.m. tomorrow.
The Postal Service will recognize the ballots and get them to election officials as soon as possible, Rubin said, but if voters are worried about the mail service not being quick enough, absentee ballots can be hand-delivered to Room 142, on the first floor of City Hall.
After 230 years of voting, maybe it is time we actually start to get this right?
Update: From an email from Ellen Kaplan at Committee of Seventy:
The Committee of Seventy has asked the Secretary of the Commonwealth to extend the deadline for voters to postmark absentee ballots to no later than Monday, November 3rd and for county Boards of Election to receive the ballots to no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 12th. These dates are applicable to military and overseas electors submitting absentee ballots.
Seventy’s request comes in the wake of over 100 complaints from voters who did not receive their absentee ballot in time to meet the October 31st deadline for the receipt of all voted civilian absentee ballots. Today Seventy received complaints from three Philadelphia voters who were sent envelopes without absentee ballots.
Really fixing the problem
Really fixing the problem would require national standards on voting booths + ballot design, as well as voter eligibility + registration. Unfortunately, this would require a Constitutional amendment, due to the wording of the 10th Amendment, which delegates to the states all governmental functions not explicitly given to the Federal government.
-Z
Lots of states and counties do absentees just fine
Heck, as Ray would point out, states like Oregon do the entire election by mail just fine. Sometimes its worth calling out exceptional local incompetence.
-Sean
MrLuigi, my cat, actually only types half as badly as I do.
Full Statement from Seventy
COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY REQUESTS EXTENSION OF
DEADLINE FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS
Voters Irate over Failure to Receive Absentee Ballots in Time to Vote
PHILADELPHIA – November 3, 2008 – The Committee of Seventy, which operates the largest non-partisan local Voter Protection Program in the nation, today asked Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortés to extend the deadline for receiving statewide civilian absentee ballots. Under the current law, all voted civilian absentee ballots must have been received no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, October 31st. Seventy is requesting that Secretary Cortés, whose department oversees the state’s electoral process, extend the deadline for voters to postmark absentee ballots to no later than Monday, November 3rd and for county Boards of Election to receive those ballots to no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 12th.
“Every eligible voter deserves the right to vote,” said Zachary Stalberg, Seventy’s President and CEO, who reported that Seventy received over 100 complaints from voters who applied for, but did not receive, absentee ballots by the Friday, October 31st submission deadline. “People who received late absentee ballots, or none at all, are frantic and furious at the possibility that they may not be able to vote.”
Given this historic election, Stalberg said that Pennsylvania’s civilian absentee voters should be accorded the same treatment as military and overseas electors. According to the Pennsylvania Election Code, all absentee ballots from military and overseas electors must be postmarked no later than Monday, November 3rd and received by county Boards of Elections no later than 5 p.m. one week after the election. This year, because Veterans’ Day falls on November 11th, the deadline for receiving voted military and overseas electors’ absentee ballots is November 12th.
Stalberg said it was not usual for the state to step in to remove hurdles to voting. In September 2008, the state recommended that county Boards of Elections accept online submission of absentee ballot requests through the Defense Department’s Federal Voting Assistance Program. Philadelphia and Allegheny counties are among the counties to allow this.
Stalberg reported that a majority of the 100 complaints to Seventy were received on Friday, October 31st, the last day for county Boards of Elections to receive voted civilian absentee ballots. On November 1st, a complaint came in from two Philadelphians living in Hong Kong. A new City voter who never received a ballot told Seventy that she is coming from Rhode Island on Tuesday rather than to miss voting altogether. This morning, three callers reported the receipt of envelopes with no absentee ballot inside.
Stalberg said that Bill Rubin, who handles absentee ballots for the City’s Board of Elections, told him that he would hand-deliver absentee ballots to people who had not received them. Stalberg said that this would help voters who are in the area, but not those who live far away.
Under federal law, if a county Board of Elections receives a voted civilian absentee ballot by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 4th, votes for President and U.S. Congress will still be counted. Votes for state offices and ballot questions will not. Absentee ballots arriving after the October 31st deadline can be mailed or hand-delivered by the voter to the voter’s county Board of Elections. If the voter is disabled, the voter and a designated agent must complete authorization forms that are available on the Pennsylvania Department of State’s website, www.votespa.com.
"The best option is always to vote in person if at all possible,” said Stalberg. “That way, you can be sure that your votes for all federal and state offices count.” He added that voters who show up at their polling places after submitting an absentee ballot will have those ballots voided.
Three cases: 2 good 1 bad
My wife got an absentee ballot in a week, last week. Another woman I know got one a few days ago.
But I heard today of someone who applied two weeks ago who has still not received.
There is no rhyme or reason or sign of nefarious doings here. My guess is that they are just overwhelmed.
Little in life is predictable but a high turnout in this election was about as predictable as anything could be. Is there really nothing the commissioners could have done to help? Even a cry for help two months ago might have gotten the funds we need out of the General Assembly to hire staff to carry out the election properly.