Bucks Co. Scrambles To Handle Last-Day Early Voting Crowds
BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Election officials in Bucks County were scrambling Wednesday morning to handle voting requests from crowds of people who showed up Tuesday on the last day of early voting at three county locations.
Tuesday was the last day for what's called absentee in-person voting, in which a voter shows up at a county election office, requests an absentee ballot, then fills it out and turns it back in on the spot. Mail-in and absentee voters who requested a ballot may still drop those ballots off at one of three Bucks County drop boxes through Election Day next week.
Multiple voters who showed up to vote Tuesday at offices in Doylestown, Levittown and Quakertown reported long lines to Patch partner Electionland. Several reported being turned away or told they would not be able to vote before the offices closed at 5 p.m.
Several people said law enforcement officers cut off the lines of people waiting to vote in person and one said a woman claiming to work for a state representative was telling people in Levittown to go home.
Bucks County spokesman Larry King said Wednesday that everyone who was in line was given an application to fill out, whether they were able to get a ballot by Tuesday's 5 p.m. deadline or not. That, he said, ensured their applications could be submitted by the 5 p.m. deadline.
The applications that were not processed by 5 p.m. continued to be processed overnight and into Wednesday morning, King said. He said phone numbers were collected from people who filled out applications but didn't receive ballots so they can be contacted when their ballots are ready.
They'll be able to return to their local office to get their ballot, where they can complete it and it can be sent to the Board of Elections in Doylestown.
King said he was not aware of any county employees telling people they should leave Tuesday's lines.
Like other counties in Pennsylvania and around the country, Bucks is handling a record number of early-voting and mail-in ballot requests due to the coronavirus outbreak.
RELATED: Election Night Results To Be Slower In Bucks Co. In 2020
This year, as many as 200,000 of Bucks County's 470,000 eligible voters are expected to vote by mail-in or absentee ballot — a dramatic increase over previous presidential elections.
Polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3, will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Pennsylvania. Health precautions for coronavirus, including distancing, hand sanitizer and plexiglass shields will be in place. Voters will be required to wear masks. Anyone who requested an absentee ballot may show up to vote in person and ask that the absentee ballot be voided.
Patch is partnering with ProPublica’s Electionland project to report on problems voters encounter at the polls on Nov. 3 and we want to know if you see any shenanigans. Here’s how you can report what you see to Electionland:
SMS: Text the word VOTE, VOTA (for Spanish) or 投票 (for Chinese) to 81380 (standard text message rates apply).
WhatsApp: Send the word VOTE, VOTA (for Spanish) or 投票 (for Chinese) to 850-909-8683.
Facebook Messenger: Go to m.me/electionland
Submit this form:
This article originally appeared on the Bensalem Patch
