The Bucks County Commissioners sent a letter to the governor and top state elected leaders and officials this week to raise concerns about the upcoming general election.
The letter was written on behalf of the Bucks County Board of Elections and comes in response to a state House resolution pushed ahead by Republicans to create a an “election integrity” committee that would have five House lawmakers – three Republicans and two Democrats – to look at potential problems with the voting process.
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The commissioners – two Democrats and one Republican – wrote that county is prepared for an election with “integrity, fairness, and safety” and noted concerns over the expected delayed caused by not allowing pre-canvassing ballots.
The commissioners said that they want a fair election with oversight, but worry the resolution’s design could cause take away from efforts to run the election in an already hectic year.
The letter from Commissioners Chairperson Diane Ellis-Marseglia, Vice Chairperson Bob Harvie, and Gene DiGirolamo was sent to the governor, top state legislative leaders of both parties, and Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Bookvar.
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Below is the full text of the letter:
We write on behalf of the Bucks County Board of Elections, in response to House Resolution 1032, which seeks to establish a Select Committee to investigate, review and make recommendations regarding the regulation and conduct of the 2020 General Election. Included in this Resolution is the power to subpoena election officials and documents.
Our County Board of Elections has been working day and night to prepare for and conduct this election, which has included the laborious review of hundreds of thousands of mail-in and absentee ballot applications, procurement of additional equipment to process the incoming ballots, fielding of thousands of phone calls from concerned voters regarding postal delays, hiring and training additional personnel, responding to several lawsuits, responding to our local political committees and candidate questions, in addition to all of the day-to-day operations delegated to the Board.
In spite of all of these challenges, and in the midst of COVID-19, Bucks County is ready to conduct this election, with the integrity, fairness, and safety that all of our registered voters deserve and expect.
However, the current law does not permit the Board to pre-canvass until 7am on Election Day, and because of this limitation, it is all but guaranteed that Bucks County will not be able to deliver results on November 3rdand may be tabulating mail-in and absentee ballots for days or even weeks following Election Day. The most helpful action the General Assembly can take now in providing our citizens with a sense of security and confidence in the results is take immediate action to permit counties the ability to begin its pre-canvass process at least one (1) week earlier. Without your immediate action to pass legislation to permit the pre-canvass process to begin sooner, we have significant concern that voters will lack confidence in the results, regardless of all of our efforts to maintain transparency and deliver a well-run election.
We welcome oversight into our operations, which Act 77 already provides for in allowing each candidate and each political party an opportunity to observe the pre-canvass. However, if this Resolution results in our staff being pulled away from their duties of administering a fair, secure and accurate election, that should give us all considerable concern. Thank you for your consideration.
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