00:00 - This program is sponsored in part by the League of Women

00:04 - Voters of Pennsylvania, a statewide, nonpartisan, grassroots organization

00:09 - that believes through informed action, people can make profound changes

00:13 - in their communities.

00:21 - We're joined today by Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania's secretary

00:24 - of the commonwealth.

00:25 - We're here today to talk about no excuse mail in voting.

00:27 - What is the benefit of this?

00:30 - No excuse, mail in voting?

00:31 - Well, it was really a significant step taken in 2019.

00:36 - Passed by a Republican House and a Republican Senate

00:39 - and signed by a Democratic governor.

00:41 - So it was bipartisan legislation that improved accessibility

00:45 - for voting in Pennsylvania, which means that if you choose to vote,

00:49 - you can either still vote at the polls on Election Day or you could vote by mail.

00:54 - You have to apply and you receive your ballot in the mail

00:58 - that you can complete at your convenience and then return to your Board

01:01 - of Elections.

01:02 - Has the availability of a no excuse mail in voting

01:05 - impacted the number of Pennsylvanians that actually go to the polls to vote?

01:09 - Well, it's always hard to tell, like turnout rises and falls

01:12 - largely based on competition.

01:14 - So if there's not a lot of competition in a primary

01:17 - or a general turnout, it is generally lower.

01:21 - But there is no doubt that it makes voting more accessible.

01:24 - If you're a firefighter

01:25 - or if you're a police officer working a 12 hour shift from 7 a.m.

01:29 - to 7 p.m., it's very difficult to vote on Election Day.

01:33 - If you're a nurse or a doctor or two jobs

01:36 - or have a parent, you have to take care of our kids.

01:40 - You have to take care of.

01:41 - Voting on Election Day can be a challenge for people.

01:43 - So this really

01:45 - improves the accessibility of the process by giving people more time.

01:49 - What is the benefit of having a more engaged

01:52 - electorate that that is involved in their elections?

01:54 - Well, you want every eligible voter to register to vote

01:58 - and every registered voter to cast their vote and have their vote

02:02 - counted in our system of government and our representative democracy.

02:07 - It's up to the people to decide who represents them.

02:10 - So you want

02:11 - to improve turnout so that,

02:13 - you know, people can make their voice heard

02:15 - and they're appropriately represented, whether it's President, United States

02:20 - or a township commissioner.

02:23 - Let's talk about how the process works.

02:25 - How does someone obtain a no excuse mail in ballot in Pennsylvania?

02:29 - You apply.

02:30 - You can apply electronically at vote, dot, dot gov

02:35 - and or buy a paper application to your county.

02:38 - And then if your application is approved, you'll be sent a ballot in the mail

02:43 - to apply for a mail in ballot, you have to include

02:46 - your Social Security number or your driver's license number

02:49 - to establish your identity before a ballot is sent out to you.

02:53 - Specifically, dates vary every year, but what are the rough timeframes

02:56 - of when no excuse mail ballots become available to voters?

03:00 - They can be sent out as early as 50 days before Election Day,

03:04 - but sometimes you see

03:05 - a lot of back and forth in the courts where there's a challenge over

03:08 - whether a candidate can or can't appear on the ballot.

03:11 - And that's sometimes delays the process.

03:14 - But you generally want them out At least three weeks before Election Day.

03:19 - I ran elections for ten years

03:21 - in Philadelphia County and that time is really important.

03:25 - You want voters to have enough time to get their ballot,

03:28 - to finish their ballot and to return it.

03:31 - And if it's through the mail, sometimes that can take a few days.

03:35 - When your mail in ballot arrives in the mail.

03:37 - What's all included in that parcel?

03:40 - You receive a packet of information

03:43 - that will include the instructions that will include your ballot.

03:49 - There will include two envelopes,

03:50 - one called a secrecy envelope and one called a declaration envelope.

03:55 - And all that is intended to ensure

03:57 - that your vote is is private and separates

04:02 - your ballot from who you are, your vote from who you are.

04:06 - So, you know, there's been a lot of controversy about mail in ballot voting.

04:11 - You see a lot in the newspaper, others with lawsuits and all the rest.

04:15 - But it's very simple.

04:16 - And if you follow the instructions, it's not a difficult process at all.

04:22 - So I'd encourage people who who would prefer to vote by mail

04:25 - for one reason or another to do so and not be dissuaded from it because of

04:31 - any of the sort of back and forth nonsense they might see in the news.

04:35 - Let's talk about filling out your ballot step by step.

04:38 - So the first thing someone wants to do is read the instructions

04:41 - and fill out the ballot back and forth.

04:43 - What are the guidelines should they keep in mind in filling out that ballot?

04:46 - Well, we've prepared instructions that all counties will include

04:49 - in their ballot packet that really walk through the process from beginning to end.

04:55 - So you're going to complete your ballot.

04:58 - You're going to insert your ballot when you're when it's completed

05:01 - in its secrecy envelope, insert that yellow

05:05 - secrecy envelope in an outer envelope and sign it and dated.

05:08 - And that's really a very important part of this, is you have to sign

05:13 - and date your envelope when returning it and then establishes

05:18 - that that it's you.

05:21 - So then we return the completed ballot to the county election board.

05:24 - How does someone determine where exactly to return the ballot?

05:27 - So your ballot materials

05:28 - will have the address on it for where it gets returned to.

05:32 - So you can

05:32 - if there's enough time, obviously

05:34 - you can put it in the mail to return it to your board of elections

05:37 - or you can return it in person to your county courthouse

05:41 - where your Board of Elections has an office.

05:44 - Or if you live in one of the many counties in Pennsylvania

05:47 - that have mail in ballot drop boxes provided by the Board of Elections,

05:51 - you can return it to a drop box

05:53 - which returns it directly to the Board of Elections.

05:56 - What is the deadline to return your ballot.

05:58 - By 8 p.m. on Election Day?

05:59 - And that's really important.

06:01 - Postmarks don't matter when it comes to mail in ballots.

06:05 - So, you know,

06:07 - it would be

06:10 - it's not a good idea to put it in the mail Monday

06:14 - before Election Day, which is on Tuesday, certainly not on Tuesday by by any means.

06:19 - But the ballot has to be back to the board of elections, either through the mail

06:24 - or through the board of Elections office or through a drop box by 8 p.m.

06:28 - on Election Day.

06:30 - How can a voter determine whether or not their mail in ballot was counted?

06:33 - So if you provide,

06:37 - for example, when you apply for a mail in ballot,

06:39 - you have the opportunity to include your email address

06:42 - and that will provide updates to you at every step

06:45 - in the way you can actually track the progress of your ballot,

06:49 - whether it's return and whether it's counted and all the rest.

06:52 - And that's an improvement and an important addition

06:55 - to improve the transparency of the process.

06:58 - In recent years has been concern over over the fairness of elections.

07:02 - What is your agency doing to help give the

07:05 - the sense of security that these concerns are being responded to.

07:10 - Since 2020, since the primary of 2020,

07:13 - beginning with the primary of 2020

07:16 - elections in Pennsylvania, have never been more safe and secure.

07:20 - There's a paper ballot record for every vote that's cast,

07:24 - whether it's by mail or in person at your polling place

07:28 - that's used in two audits after every election

07:32 - to ensure that the tabulated results are accurate.

07:35 - So it was a

07:36 - it was a heavy undertaking for the counties to prepare for the 2020 election.

07:40 - They did it successfully.

07:42 - And that's why Pennsylvania is fortunate to have such a free,

07:46 - fair, safe and secure elections.

07:48 - Secretary Al Schmitt, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me.

07:59 - This program is sponsored in part by the League of Women

08:03 - Voters of Pennsylvania, a statewide, nonpartisan, grassroots organization.

08:08 - That believes through informed action, people can make profound changes

08:12 - in their communities.