Frequently Asked Questions

1.    How will eliminating drop boxes stop mail-in ballot fraud?

  • It won’t stop fraud completely, but our research shows that eliminating drop boxes will make it much harder for bad actors to drop large batches of illegal ballots into the system. In the last two general elections, Pennsylvania had over 100 drop boxes statewide.

 

2.   We need to eliminate mail-in ballots completely. Why is that not part of this initiative?

  • Unfortunately, the mail-in ballots are part of the law and there is no viable path to get rid of them before the 2024 election. Even with the win at the Commonwealth Court which ruled accurately that Act 77 was passed unconstitutionally and should be made null and void, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed that ruling and the US Supreme Court would not take the case. Since we are stuck with mail-in ballots, the plan is to reduce the opportunities for mis-use and for illegal ballots from being counted.

 

3.   Will eliminating drop boxes disenfranchise voters and make it harder for them to vote?

  • No, quite the opposite. Having drop boxes in some counties, but not others may actually violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution, giving an unfair advantage to the areas where drop boxes are present.  Afterall, they are called Mail Ballots, with the plain intent that they be mailed!  Voters will still be able to cast legal mail-in votes either by mail or at the County Election Office.

 

4.   My County Officials say that these changes have to go through the legislature. Is that true, and if not, how can we implement these 3 things at the local level?

Drop Boxes:

  • There is nothing in the election code requiring counties to have drop boxes. In 2020, as part of the contract that counties signed when they took the Zuckerbucks, they had to put drop boxes in, but this is not written in the election code, a.k.a. Act 77. The decision to have or not to have drop boxes is left up to each county board of elections and/or voter services, and/or County Commissioners.  The reason we have Drop Boxes is not because our legislators authorized them, but because they did not previously exist, so our legislators did not think to block them.  Drop boxes were created out of “thin air” by the PA Department of State during Covid, supposedly to reduce the spread of infection and the manufactured perception of an untrustworthy Post Office.

Mail-in Ballots Counted at the Precincts:

  • Ask your local county officials where in the election code it says that counties CANNOT count mail-in ballots at the precincts, but that they MUST go to a centralized tabulation center. Based on our review of the law, precinct counting is not prohibited. The Pennsylvania State Department may have guidelines recommending a centralized tabulation facility be used, but it is not written in the law. Therefore, this is another decision left up to the county board of elections. We are urging constituents to attend these election board meetings, which happen before and after each election, and make your requests known to the public. Winning in the court of public opinion is our best option now.

 

Hand Counting the Presidential Race:

  • The same logic applies to hand counting. There is nothing in the law that prohibits it. We are asking that just the presidential race be hand counted prior to certification of the vote. This will increase public trust in the outcome of the election so that we don’t have the situation we’ve had over the last two presidential elections where the losing party insists the other side cheated.

 

5.   How will hand counting the Presidential race work from a logistics perspective?

  • This decision will be managed at the county level. Multiple effective and time efficient processes for hand counting have been demonstrated in other states. We plan to demonstrate these processes in Pennsylvania as part of this initiative. Our first step is to get the county to agree to hand count the Presidential race. Logistics will come later.

 

6.   Why are we not asking for a hand count for all races?

  • Since hand counting paper ballots has not been done in at least the last 20 years, and many of our elected officials are already totally against it, we feel that asking for a hand count of all races is too big of a request and we will get denied. The plan is to start with just the Presidential race for now. Long term, we hope to get back to hand counting paper ballots for all races, but that is a multi-year struggle that we can’t achieve prior to the 2024 election.

7. Why are we collecting “party affiliation” information on the form?

  • We want to be able to demonstrate to our elected officials that this is a bi-partisan effort and has nothing to do with any political party or candidate. This effort is truly about restoring public trust in the outcome of our elections. If you are not comfortable listing your party affiliation, you don’t have to.