Area primaries draw fewer than 1 in 3 voters

Numbers have been rising due to mail-in ballots, but turnout tends to remain low.

By TOM FONTAINE
TribLive

Fewer than one in three registered voters in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties are expected to cast a ballot in this year’s primary.

That may seem paltry, particularly compared with November’s hotly contested presidential election when voter turnouts in the two counties approached or exceeded 80%.

But this year’s projected turnouts would rank among the highest for a primary in a municipal election year (odd-numbered year) over the past two decades.

Allegheny County Elections Division Manager David Voye predicts voter turnout will be 30% in this year’s primary, while his counterpart in Westmoreland County, Election Bureau Director Scott Ross, predicts turnout of up to 26%.

Primary turnouts have risen since Pennsylvania began allowing no-excuse mail-in voting in 2020. Before then, it wasn’t uncommon for turnouts to be below 20%.

“Mail-in voting has raised voter turnout approximately 5%,” on average, Voye said.

The question is, with the ease of mail-in voting, why aren’t even more people voting?

“It is a safe and secure way to vote. You’d think more people would opt in to vote that way,” Ross said.

Ross said Democrats were quicker to embrace no-excuse voting by mail after it was allowed and still outnumber Republicans, who vote by mail by a 2-to-1 margin — though the gap has narrowed.

Bill Bretz, chairman of the Westmoreland County Republican Committee, said the committee has been encouraging more Republicans to take advantage of the mail-in option.

“I can’t necessarily put my finger on why more people won’t participate in the voting process when (the mail-in option makes it) easier than ever,” Bretz said.

Bretz acknowledged there is a shortage of contested races on many ballots this year, a fact that may be keeping some voters away.

Democrats in Westmoreland didn’t muster any candidates in countywide races for district attorney, coroner, prothonotary, register of wills or clerk of courts. The GOP has contested races for coroner and register of wills. Democratic and Republican candidates for Westmoreland County Common Pleas judge are unopposed in the primary.

In some communities, many primary races are uncontested.

This year, 65,000 voters in Westmoreland requested mailin ballots but, as of Friday, fewer than 15,000 had been returned, Ross said.

“More than half of voters usually return their mail-in ballots,” Ross said.

PRIMARY •A2

“In the primary after a presidential race, I think you could see some fatigue from voters.”

SAM HENS-GRECO

ALLEGHENY COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN In Allegheny, the return rate on mail-in ballots has been better. Of about 110,000 requested by voters, about 56,000 had been returned as of Thursday, Voye said. The county usually sees a return rate of 70% to 75%.

As for the traditionally low turnouts in the primary after a presidential election year, Allegheny County Democratic Committee Chairman Sam Hens-Greco said, “Super voters are going to vote in any election regardless of what’s on the ballot, even if it’s only a race for dog catcher. But in the primary after a presidential race, I think you could see some fatigue from voters (after last year’s heated presidential campaign).

“The irony,” he added, “is that the people on the ballot this year might touch your life and have more impact locally on people’s everyday lives.”