Bucks Co. Officials Prepare For Massive Influx Of Mail-In Ballots

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — All eyes will be on Pennsylvania this Nov. 3.

As a swing state that could determine the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election, local election officials are bracing for a major influx of mail-in ballots after a law passed last fall allows residents to vote by mail without providing a reason.

With the pandemic still ravaging the country, record numbers of voters are expected to opt for the mail-in ballot. And local officials in Bucks County are working ahead to handle the increase.

Election officials in Bucks County say they are preparing for more than 10 times the number of mail-in ballots that were received in November 2016.

In November 2016, Bucks County received 21,509 applications for absentee ballots. Of those who applied, 18,943 returned their ballots, said Tom Freitag, the county's Board of Elections director.

"Though it’s impossible to know how many voters will apply for November, we’re preparing to handle as many as 250,000 to 300,000 ballots," he said.

State officials are strongly encouraging residents to vote by mail to help promote social distancing amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Officials announced last week that the state is providing funding so that all mail-in ballots include a postage-paid return envelope.

Once received, the mail-in ballots will be counted by county Board of Elections staff. Additionally, other county staff will be sworn in to assist with the tallying process. The Board of Elections is also seeking to hire more staff.

So how long will we have to wait for the results on Election Day?

Pennsylvania law states that mail-in ballots cannot begin to be processed until 7 a.m. on Election Day.

Freitag said at this point, it's difficult to estimate how long the counting process could take, since the actual volume of ballots is unknown.

He said the Elections Office is working on getting procedures in place to streamline the process "as much as possible" so an accurate count can completed as quickly as possible.

The county has just approved the purchase of a BlueCrest Relia-Vote, Vantage Mail Ballot envelope sorting machine to help handle the expected influx of ballots. Similar to the primary, the county plans to have drop boxes for mail-in ballots.

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