HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – This is most certainly a big election year and Pennsylvania is the biggest of the battleground states. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt oversees elections and took questions from the Pennsylvania Press Club on Monday.

“Elections have changed so much in the past few years, it is no wonder people have the questions that they have,” acknowledged Schmidt.

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This Week in Pennsylvania

One place where people had questions after the 2020 election is Fulton County, Pennsylvania. Recently, the county was ordered to repay $700,000 for the state’s legal fees after a fight over voting systems that the county allowed to be examined by an outside group after the 2020 election.

“And that does not include the other parties who are also going to have their legal expenses reimbursed,” said Schmidt.

Fulton County’s Commissioners did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Republican State Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill said she has more confidence in Schmidt than previous secretaries of state, especially his call for uniformity among counties.

“You definitely don’t want votes counted in one county that would not be counted in another county, especially for the same race. And I know that’s happened before,” said Phillips-Hill (R-York).

That did happen and impacted a western Pennsylvania State Senate race.

Also problematic, but legal, is the fact that some counties have multiple drop boxes for mail-in ballots and some have none. Montgomery County recently said it intends to send poll workers to the homes of mail-in voters who made mistakes on the outer envelope so they can correct them.

“Every voter needs to be treated the same way,” said Schmidt, who added this needs to be done “to assure a level playing field.”

“I think generally, the more uniformity, the better,” Schmidt said.

But hard and fast rules are hard to implement and yes, Schmidt wants wiggle room for counties like Montgomery.

“You have to allow flexibility because those election directors know their voters better than we do or anybody else does and what’s best for them.”

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