WEXFORD, Pa.—After a string of recent voting-related controversies in Pennsylvania, one reason that Pittsburgh resident Joseph Costa dropped off his absentee ballot at a polling station Thursday is because he doesn’t trust the process.
“It’s convenient. I don’t like it this way. But to be honest, I don’t trust the system,” Costa told The Daily Signal outside the North Park Ice Rink in Wexford, an Allegheny County polling site.
“The level of corruption in voting drives me crazy,” he said. “It’s bad to be leery of your own state. But it’s far different from 2020. I think it’s better.”
State prosecutors in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County are investigating two batches of about 2,500 voter registration forms that may include several hundred fraudulent forms. York County officials also are investigating potential voter registration fraud.
Meanwhile, Erie County is mired in a flap involving duplicate absentee ballots sent to election offices as well as voters who say they didn’t get their ballots.
In addition, a judge recently ordered Bucks County, a battleground county near Philadelphia, to extend its deadline for early voting to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, after Donald Trump’s presidential campaign sued. The campaign alleged that the county had turned away voters who were in line to vote before 5 p.m. Tuesday, when in-person early voting ended.
Pennsylvania has an overall score of 62 on The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard and ties with Arizona and Rhode Island for the ranking of 24.
The Keystone State scores the maximum four points for restricting the controversial process of ballot harvesting and does reasonably well on the accuracy of voter rolls with a score of 18 out of 28.
Pennsylvania also maages to score 13 out of 21 points for absentee ballot management. The state restricted use of private dollars to pay for election administration.
Pennsylvania—a state that Trump carried in 2016 and Joe Biden carried in 2020—is among the most fiercely contested states in the country. Trump and Harris virtually tied in the RealClearPolitics average, with the former president holding a nominal 0.4% lead. At least four polls conducted during October showed the state was tied.
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, a Republican appointed by Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, expressed confidence in the state’s system Oct. 25 after visiting all 67 counties.
“These visits were a sign of that commitment and an opportunity to learn how the [Pennsylvania] Department of State can best assist them in their important work,” Schmidt said in a public statement. “From Wayne to Allegheny, every county faces unique challenges. One of the reasons I have such confidence in the security and accuracy of Pennsylvania’s elections is I have seen firsthand the integrity and professionalism of these local officials.”
Several Pennsylvania voters told The Daily Signal that they are concerned about election integrity, but expect matters to be better this time than four years ago.
Jarrett Dowling, 26, of Ross Township, is a Kamala Harris supporter who says she is more concerned about what Republicans will do after the election.
“Voter suppression is a problem. In Virginia, Republicans purged people from the voter rolls and the conservative Supreme Court said that was a good thing,” Dowling told The Daily Signal. “Conservative people talk about election integrity, but there is no real evidence anything bad happened in 2020.”
The U.S. Supreme Court sided Wednesday with Virginia’s decision to remove the names of 1,600 noncitizens from the voter rolls, overturning a lower court ruling siding with the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice Department.
There is more focus on election security this year, Ross Township resident Charles Schrankel said, noting that the Republican National Committee has filed over 100 lawsuits.
“I’m concerned, but not overly worried. I don’t think fraud will be a difference-maker,” Schrankel told The Daily Signal.
Kersten Rovee of Ohio Township, asserted: “I don’t have concerns about the process. I am concerned about what might transpire after the election.”
Lucas Guthrie, a resident of Beaver County, said that because states run elections, that will prevent rigged contests.
“I think the election will be secure,” Guthrie told The Daily Signal. “Every state runs their own election. It’s not centralized. That helps.”
In Oregon and Washington, however, arsonists attempted to burn ballots deposited in drop boxes by voters, damaging hundreds, CNN reported.
These incidents encouraged Ashton Jersey, a resident of Beaver, to drop off her absentee ballot in person.
“I brought my ballot in because I’m nervous about what might happen after the election,” Jersey told The Daily Signal. “I don’t want it to be burned or destroyed.”
Several other voters wanted to comment but asked to give only their first names, citing polarized politics, job security, and personal safety concerns if others knew how they voted.
Mike, a resident of Franklin Park, had a different view of the Virginia court case about noncitizen voters.
“In Virginia, you see that 1,600 noncitizens were registered to vote,” he said. “I don’t know of any other country in the world that allows noncitizens to vote in their elections. A Chinese national voted in Michigan. There should be a way to prove you are a U.S. citizen.”
Authorities charged a Chinese national with casting an illegal vote in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The vote is irretrievable and reportedly will be counted.
“There is a lot of controversy over the safety of the election. I think both sides prefer to get their votes in early,” Athena, 29, of Pittsburgh, told The Daily Signal after dropping off her ballot.
“It’s wild that I go in there and just say who I am and they take my ballot with no ID,” she added. “It’s an issue, for sure.”
Joe, a resident of McCandless, said that “in a country of 350 million, there is always an election integrity issue.”
“That’s why every state holds its own election,” he said. “It would make it difficult to rig a multistate election. But there are ways to manipulate the election. Something might be legal, but not moral.”