The Bucks County Board of Elections, composed of County Commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia, Bob Harvie and Gene DiGirolamo, sent a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf and legislative leadership in Harrisburg, calling for the pre-canvassing of ballots to begin at least one week in advance of Election Day to help avoid delays in tabulating and reporting election results.
Their letter is below:
“We write on behalf of the Bucks County Board of Elections, in response to House Resolution 1032, which seeks to establish a Select Committee to investigate, review and make recommendations regarding the regulation and conduct of the 2020 General Election. Included in this Resolution is the power to subpoena election officials and documents.
“Our County Board of Elections has been working day and night to prepare for and conduct absentee ballot applications, procurement of additional equipment to process the incoming ballots, fielding of thousands of phone calls from concerned voters regarding postal delays, hiring and training additional personnel, responding to several lawsuits, responding to our local political committees and candidates questions, in addition to all of the day-to-day operations delegated to the Board.
“In spite of all of these challenges, and in the midst of COVID-19, Bucks County is ready to conduct this election, with the integrity, fairness, and safety that all of our registered voters deserve and expect.
“However, the current law does not permit the Board to pre-canvas until 7am on Election Day, and because of this limitation, it is all but guaranteed that Bucks County will not be able to deliver results on November 3rd and may be tabulating mail-in and absentee ballots for days or even weeks following Election Day.
“The most helpful action the General Assembly can take now in providing our citizens with a sense of security and confidence in the results is take immediate action to permit counties the ability to begin its pre-canvas process at least one (1) week earlier. Without your immediate action to pass legislation to permit the pre-canvass process to begin sooner, we have significant concern that voters will lack confidence in the results, regardless of all of our efforts to maintain transparency and deliver a well-run election.
“We welcome oversight into our operations, which Act 77 already provides for in allowing each candidate and each political party an opportunity to observe the pre-canvass. However, if this Resolution results in our staff being pulled away from their duties of administering a fair, secure and accurate election, that should give us all considerable concern.”
