PITTSBURGH — In November, the Allegheny County Elections Warehouse in the North Side was the focus of the political world. That won’t be the case for Tuesday’s municipal primary.
Nearly 120,000 mail-in ballots were requested, a third as many as last year’s presidential election. Allegheny County election workers are preparing to face some unique challenges.
Director of Administrative Services Jerry Tyskiewicz explained that the primary ballot has grown, simply because there are more than 100 candidates running for different offices.
“We’re going to have some hurdles. It’s not going to be perfect, but it’s certainly going to be better than it was in November,” Tyskiewicz explained. “It’s a 17-inch ballot, double-sided, with a lot of candidates. It’s going to be an additional challenge to see how the scanners react to it, how long the results take.”
Just like November, workers won’t be able to canvass ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Those Ballots can’t be counted until polls close at 8 p.m.
Chatting with voters outside of the St. Boniface polling location in the North Side. A steady flow of people coming in and out. Elections officials say turnout has been slightly better than a typical municipal primary. pic.twitter.com/AKTdeTV5M2
— Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) May 18, 2021
Unlike the presidential election, mail-in ballots must also be turned in by 8 p.m. or they won’t count.
Of the 120,000 ballots that have been requested, about half have been returned so far.
If you have a mail-in ballot but want to drop your ballot off in person, the county office building downtown will be open every day now through Tuesday.
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