EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County elections officers are on observe to mail out absentee ballots in early October, Registrar of Elections Chris Commini informed a county council committee Wednesday.
Work to organize for the Nov. 5 normal election continues apace, he stated throughout a gathering of the council’s Election Integrity Committee.
With this cycle’s final poll problem resolved this week within the Pa. Supreme Courtroom, the elections workplace has finalized who will seem on Northampton County’s ballots.
Officers now are reviewing pre-print proofs of every model of the poll.
As soon as Commini’s workplace approves the proofs, their printer will run off a set of check ballots.
To ensure they’re suitable with the county’s tabulation tools, staff will run all the check ballots by means of every of their high-speed scanners.
Assuming all the things works as meant, Commini then will place an order for about 60,000 absentee ballots.
As soon as the printed ballots arrive in Easton, the workplace will start stuffing them in envelopes and sending them to voters who requested them.
Employees additionally will start providing ballot-on-demand voting, by means of which voters showing in particular person on the county elections workplace can request, obtain, fill out and submit a mail poll in a single go to.
Mail ballots and drop packing containers
The primary spherical of mail ballots ought to exit in “very early October,” Commini stated. “That’s the very best I can do; I gained’t put a selected date on it.”
To date, greater than 39,000 voters within the county have requested a mail poll, Commini stated.
It’s onerous to know at this level how 2024 will examine to 2020, when officers despatched out 73,000 ballots. The ultimate day to request a mail poll is Oct. 29.
Just a few days after ballots exit, staff will place seven drop packing containers throughout the county the place voters can return their ballots with out counting on the Postal Service.
Whereas many of the drop packing containers are solely out there throughout enterprise hours of the buildings they’re in, the field on the county 911 middle will probably be accessible to voters 24/7 till polls shut on Nov. 5.
As soon as ballot-on-demand voting begins, the elections workplace and the drop field within the rotunda of the Northampton County Courthouse will probably be open till 8 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
Although it’ll take a while to rely the hundreds of submitted mail ballots come election day, Commini stated, the workplace could have remaining unofficial outcomes posted later that night time.
The final day to register to vote within the November election is Oct. 21.
