Masks, distance on Election Day

By Jose Negron

jnegron@yourmvi.com

Ron and Christine Janney didn’t have to wait in a line and spent little time inside their polling place Tuesday  afternoon at Carroll Township Volunteer Fire Department. 

As they departed, the couple lauded the in-person experience they had voting in the primary election amid the COVID-19 pandemic as face masks and social distancing have become the norm. 

“The machine was a little bit different, but everything was very easy,” Christine Janney said. “It was very much spaced out, too.” 

Donning masks and abiding by social distancing guidelines, the Janneys were among many Mon Valley residents who cast their votes in person. 

The Janneys were in the presence of poll workers also wearing masks and gloves, while only three machines were available for use rather than the usual nine or 10. 

“They used Q-Tips to write with on the signature pad and the touch pad,” Christine Janney explained. “They had you use that so you didn’t have to touch anything; you did your vote, you used another machine and (the ballot) went down in. It was very much a safe environment.” 

“That showed some ingenuity,” Ron Janney said of the usage of Q-Tips. “I have never seen that before.” 

In an effort to reduce crowding at polling places and encourage voters to utilize mail-in voting options, Gov. Tom Wolf on March 27 authorized rescheduling the primary election originally scheduled for April 28. 

Nearly 1.8 million voters in Pennsylvania have applied for a mail-in ballot since the onset of the pandemic. 

However, Michael Powell, judge of elections at the Fallowfield Township No. 3 polling site at Charleroi Area High School, said he was surprised by the small number of people who registered to receive mail-in ballots as well as the number of people who failed to return them. 

In a precinct size of slightly more than 800 people, Powell said less than a fifth of those voters chose the mail-in ballot route. 

“A lot of people didn’t use those because they didn’t have a computer, they didn’t know how to use the mail-in ballots or they held on until the last minute, which included trying to mail out (Monday),” said Powell, who has served as a judge of elections for nearly four decades.

To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Wednesday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.