Late Friday afternoon saw the end of the court-extended mail-in ballot process in Bucks County, with many voters expressing confusion and frustration at what they believed were early voting options.
Long lines snaked around the Lower Bucks County Government Services Center in Bristol Township and county election offices in Doylestown and Richland Township as residents waited for hours to apply for and receive their mail-in ballots. When lines shortened in the central and upper end of the county, the line remained long in Bristol Township.
The on-demand ballot process, which does not exist as early voting in Pennsylvania, allows voters to apply for, receive, and, if they wish, submit a mail-in ballot all at once. However, the procedure is time-consuming and can take up to 15 minutes per voter to verify eligibility and print ballots.
The time needed for the processing and high volume led to significant delays and a backlog at county election offices.
At times, tempers flared among those waiting, particularly Republicans, who voiced dismay over the process and long waits.
“We just want to vote,” shouted one woman in line.
Misunderstandings about the process were widespread, with some voters expecting to find traditional polling booths.
Leading up to this week, there were messages from political groups on both sides framing the process as early voting—a process not permitted in the state. The Trump campaign posted to social media that there was “early voting” and other political groups texted supporters Friday to get to the county election offices.
Numerous social media accounts shared images and video of the lines in Levittown, with some providing misleading or wrong information. One account told conservative voters the wrong times that the office was open.
Jim Worthington, a key local Trump fundraiser and business person, criticized the slow pace of the lines and suggested partisan bias was to play.
“I think Democrats are concerned,” he said of the lines. “There are a lot of people banking their vote for [Trump] and they don’t want to be disenfranchised.”
In the future, Worthington said Pennsylvania should consider allowing early voting at polling places.
At the same time, Pat Poprik, chairperson of the Bucks County Republican Committee, worked to clarify that the process was not the same as polling place voting and emphasized that those without a mail-in ballot could still vote in person on Election Day.
“I don’t think it was nefarious,” Poprik said. “I think its just that these numbers of people were not planned.”
Poprik said she believes the county could have used more secure ballot printers, but she said county election staff were working hard.
On the topic of the confusion with early voting, Poprik said the county GOP has been “very careful” not to confuse people, but she noted many had received confusing information from other sources.
“Why wait five hours to vote when they can go to their polling place on election day and do it in an hour or two?” Poprik said.
The county GOP head, who was wearing a Trump hat and button, said that she voted by mail and feels that it is safe.
Peter Navarro, a former Trump advisor, also made an appearance, told supporters at the Bristol Township county office that the process was being mishandled.
“It’s just wrong,” he said.
One voter, Christian P, of Langhorne, was in line for several hours with his family, who requested mail ballots, but the ballots had never arrived in the mail. They wanted to get their ballots that never arrived cancelled and have new ones issued.
Christian was concerned that others like his family won’t be able to get new ballots because of the long lines filled with people seeking on-demand, mail-in ballots.
“There are people who have not received their mail-in ballot that have put in a request that has been processed and now will be stuck with the decision of how to get here in person today,” he said, pointing to the line.
“It’s disorganized,” he added.
Mark Geno, a voter from Falls Township, stated that he was in line for several hours on Friday after making the decision to come down following the news of extended hours.
“I thought it was early voting and I figured maybe you fill out a quick form because I wasn’t registered for here, but oh my God, not this,” he said, adding that he’ll likely vote in person the next time he votes.
Candace Cabanas, the Republican candidate for state representative for the 140th Legislative District, was talking with fellow GOP voters waiting in line. She said she voted by mail and has faith in the system.
“The people in line feel like there was some form of cheating happening. I said, ‘no, I think it’s just overwhelming the office. It’s a bigger response than they expected here at the Board of Elections with the employees here and the equipment they have.'”
James O’Malley said there were additional staff working at the three election offices and voters in line by closing time were allowed to take part in the on-demand, mail-in ballot process.
Those in line by the close of the election office waited until 8 p.m. to finalize their mail-in ballots on Friday.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, the head of the county Democratic party, said he thinks the past few days could spur forward action for Republicans to support Democrats’ proposal to create early voting in the Keystone State.
“Here’s my suggestion: let’s get all these Republicans who have been complaining about voting on-demand to support our legislation in Harrisburg to create real early voting, like other states have,” he said. “People could go to a polling place and vote and there would be no asking for a mail-in application.”
Santarsiero understood that many Republicans and some Democrats were confused when they learned the state doesn’t have early voting and he believed it should be added as an option, provided more support is given to county election offices.
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