On the final day of early in-person voting in Pennsylvania, some are making accusations about voter suppression in Bucks County.
Republicans in Bucks County and Washington are raising concerns about how Pennsylvania officials have handled the situation involving on-demand mail-in ballots.
The Republican National Committee sent a letter to Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt saying there have been “numerous concerning reports” from voters that polls are closing early and no longer accepting voters and that mail-in ballots will not be counted.
A line outside the bucks county administration building wrapped around the block as the The deadline to request a ballot in Pennsylvania was running out Tuesday.
“This is only the second presidential election we’ve had with this system,” said Bucks County Commissioner and Board of Elections Chairman Bob Harvie, referring to on-demand mail voting.
The lines are long, he says, because it takes an average of 10 to 12 minutes to process each request.
“It’s a very cumbersome process. We don’t have unlimited resources here. We have a fixed number of employees. We have a fixed budget,” Harvie said.
However, the Bucks County Board of Elections says officials had to break the line at some point, unlike on Election Day.
“Last week, the Department of State asked counties to ensure that every registered voter who was in line at 5 p.m. today would have the opportunity to submit a ballot application,” Schmidt said.
That’s what the Bucks County Board of Elections says has been done.
A spokesperson for the province said the line was interrupted around 2:45 p.m. Mail-in voting applications continued to be accepted until 5 p.m
“Our staff needs to be able to process all these requests and do that in addition to the rest of their work, especially today because it’s the deadline. We need to upload everything before midnight,” Harvie said.
Voters in Doylestown said they waited more than three hours to get through the line.
“It’s taking too long. There has to be an easier way. There has to be more places for people to go,” said Robin Peterson of Chalfont.
“I like this better than sending this in the mail or putting it in a mailbox,” said Ralph Borzillo of Warrington.
“I think this is the safest way to do it,” said Barbara Graham of Pipersville. “They will know who I am and that I voted, and no one can vote for me.”
Some voters tried voting this way last week and were back on Tuesday to try again.
“There were three hundred people in front of us, so they told us we can’t vote because it was almost closing time,” said Anne Thenin of Doylestown.
On election day, those who line up before the polls close will be the The Bucks County Board of Elections says they can cast their ballots anyway.
Former President Donald Trump’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, posted on X: “You have the right to stay in line to cast your vote!”
Trump’s political director James Blair posted a similar message on X.
Nikki De Mentri
