Pa. primary, featuring nearly 100,000 mail-in ballot requests in Lehigh and Northampton counties, will cap a daunting election

The challenge for Pennsylvania’s county election officials was daunting even before the coronavirus began sweeping across the globe.

A state law approved last fall allows any Pennsylvania voter to cast their ballot by mail, an option previously reserved for those who could not get to a physical polling site. That meant the number of mail-in ballots that needed to be sent and counted would rise during a high-interest presidential election year.

But the pandemic made voting early, from your own home, an appealing alternative to donning a face mask and standing in line with strangers at a local precinct. Nearly 2 million mail-in ballots have been requested in Pennsylvania, including more than 90,000 in the Lehigh Valley — a dramatic increase from the 4,400 absentee ballots cast across Lehigh and Northampton counties in the 2016 primary.

The vote-counting Tuesday evening — and likely into Wednesday — will cap an election that has lasted weeks longer than expected, with few of the traditional interactions between candidates and voters, and a much larger burden on local officials who have scrambled to find new polling sites, process an unprecedented avalanche of mail-in ballots, and mitigate health risks for those who choose to vote in person.

The unusual circumstances likely will mean a longer wait for election results, and a greater potential for logistical hiccups. Adding to the pressure: Tuesday’s election also is the best test run that local officials will have to prep for the November general election, when even more voters will be casting a ballot in a state critical to deciding the presidential election — and when threats from the virus still will be looming.

“Uncertainty rules the day,” said Chris Borick, a political scientist and pollster at Muhlenberg College in Allentown. “It’s easy to slip into hyperbole, but this is completely uncharted territory.”

Pennsylvania’s primary voters were supposed to head to the polls on April 28, the fourth Tuesday in April. That’s the primary date for presidential years, as prescribed in state law.

But as coronavirus began to spread rapidly across the country and elected officials began ordering voters to remain at home, Pennsylvania, like at least 20 other states, pushed back the date amid concerns about whether elections could be conducted safely.

For political candidates, the pandemic has meant more time to reach voters, but in severely restricted ways. Instead of public forums and door-knocking, candidates have had to rely on social media, Zoom roundtables, and a lot of phone calls.

Even a presidential primary in which the nominees were set would have resulted in some rallies and other events, particularly in a key battleground for the general election. Instead of swinging through his native Scranton before Election Day, the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, was campaigning from his Delaware home, holding virtual events with Gov. Tom Wolf and Sen. Bob Casey.

For some voters, talking politics has been the last thing on their minds as they deal with shuttered child care centers, busy signals on the state’s unemployment compensation hotline, and anxiety about how to stay healthy.

“For so many, survival is the top priority right now,” said Vicki Lightcap, a Republican running in the 131st state House District, which spans parts of Lehigh, Northampton and Montgomery counties. “This shutdown has devastated people, and while some want to talk about government overreach and how important it is to reopen the economy, a lot of people don’t want to hear about an election.”

The state Democratic Party issued a memo urging candidates to take precautions with the campaign literature they distributed to voters, such as handling it as little as possible and having volunteers hold on to any extra flyers instead of returning them to a candidate.

When it comes to visiting poll sites on Tuesday, the memo discourages any physical contact with voters, instead suggesting candidates set up tables with pens, flyers and hand sanitizer.

Candidates aren’t the only ones facing logistical challenges. The outbreak has forced the counties to overhaul much of their election operations.

Poll workers tend to be older individuals, the same demographic facing greater risk from the coronavirus. As a result, hundreds of workers pulled out in the Lehigh Valley, sending counties scrambling to find new people to sign in voters and assist with equipment.

“As we encourage our older and more high-risk election workers to sit this one out, we have found younger and more low-risk citizens to take on these responsibilities during the pandemic,” Northampton County Chief Registrar Amy Cozze said.

Cozze said Northampton County has managed to replace poll workers who dropped out. Lehigh County filled some spots but will use fewer than the 1,000 workers typically hired.

“We will make do with what we have on Tuesday,” Benyo said. “We could use about 50 more poll workers.”

Returning poll workers may find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Due to the outbreak, many previous polling sites have been relocated after certain locations were unwilling or unable to play host. The problem plagued Lehigh County in particular, which previously used a number of senior centers and nursing homes.

Those planning to vote in person should confirm their precinct location by checking with their county elections office or the Pennsylvania Department of State.

As they would in any other enclosed public place, voters should plan to wear a mask and practice social distancing, keeping 6 feet between themselves and others when possible.

In Lehigh County, where voters mark paper ballots, residents are urged to bring their own pen to limit the spread of the virus. In Northampton County, voters are encouraged to wear surgical gloves when using the touchscreen voting machines for the same reason.

One change that will help in counting ballots: Election officials can begin tallying mail-in ballots at 7 a.m. Tuesday, and both Lehigh and Northampton officials say they’ll be starting right away in an effort to have the mail ballots completed when polls close at 8 p.m.

To meet that goal, they’ll attempt to count some 92,000 votes before a single precinct turns in their results. Lehigh County received 47,915 mail-in ballot requests, and Northampton had 44,250, representing roughly one-quarter of each county’s total number of registered Democrats and Republicans.

Of those requested ballots, 23,356 had been returned in Northampton as of Thursday. Lehigh officials did not report how many ballots had been returned as of Friday.

To keep things running smoothly, both counties have added staff and acquired machines capable of counting 70 ballots per minute. Getting those ballots into the machines requires workers to open envelopes, load the ballots and review any ballots the machines can’t read. Meanwhile, election workers also must register the votes cast in-person at polling places Tuesday.

In the 2016 primary, 67,000 voters in Northampton and 77,000 Lehigh voters cast ballots for president. But there’s no precedent for gauging the size of primary election turnout amid a pandemic. There’s a competitive Republican primary in the 7th Congressional District and several primaries for state legislative seats to draw out voters locally, but how many will be willing to head to an in-person polling site remains a looming question.

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So when can voters and candidates expect results?

“We’re hopeful to have unofficial results posted that night, but nothing is guaranteed,” said Northampton County spokeswoman Becky Bartlett.

Northampton County election officials have had to count through the night before. When computer errors caused county voting machines to lose thousands of votes last November, staff worked until Wednesday morning to tally 57,680 ballots.

There have been some hiccups already, with instruction errors on ballots in Montgomery County and some duplicate ballots mailed in Allegheny County. Election watchdog groups like Common Cause will be watching for voting issues across the state, to ensure accuracy in the primary and to compile a list of what preparations are needed for November.

“We will have a lot of clarity after June 2 about what needs to be fixed,” said Suzanne Almeida, acting director of Common Cause Pennsylvania.

QUESTIONS ABOUT VOTING

Contact your local election office:

Northampton County: 610-829-6260

Lehigh County: 610-782-3194

Find your polling place online: www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/Pages/PollingPlaceInfo.aspx

Mail-in ballots must be received at the county election office by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Haven’t mailed your ballot yet? Deliver it in person:

Lehigh County: 17 S. Seventh St., Allentown

Northampton County: 669 Washington St., Easton

Morning Call reporter Andrew Wagaman contributed to this report.

Washington correspondent Laura Olson can be reached at 202-780-9540 or lolson@mcall.com.