'Business as usual': Biden departure won't affect Lebanon County election preparations

In the aftermath of President Joe Biden's late campaign exit, local officials are moving forward with general election preparations in Lebanon County.

In a phone call with the Lebanon Daily News Monday, Elections Director Sean Drasher said everything in the Lebanon County’s Bureau of Registration and Elections is "business as usual."

"If there's a takeaway from all of this right now, it's that for Lebanon County voters this isn't affecting anything we are doing in elections locally," he said. "The party still has to have their convention, they are still going to have to put forward a candidate and they are going to have to do so in compliance with the laws at the state level."

On Sunday, Biden announced that he would be ending his bid for re-election. While Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to run atop the Democrat ticket, Democratic National Committee members still need to officially name an alternative nominee to face former President Donald Trump in the general election on Nov. 5.

"I guess we all know that President Biden was struggling, and to get COVID on top of that, I imagine he's feeling poorly," Democrat Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz said. "God bless him. I certainly respect that he decided to withdraw."

The elections office is still two months away from sending out mail-in ballots to registered voters. Drasher said that while he personally finds the recent election shakeup historic and interesting, it does not affect the day-to-day work being done by his office.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled from Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. The Pennsylvania Department of State has confirmed Monday a new Democratic ticket pairing will be on the ballots in the fall.

Drasher said after a nominee is selected, the candidates and the party has to file paperwork at the state level before local officials receive an official list.

"Nobody is printing ballots, nobody has created a ballot," Drasher said. "None of that happens until we get into mid-September."

Inbound ballot tracking

During a July 18 election board meeting, county commissioners approved tracking mail-in ballots returned through the U.S. Postal Service to the elections office. Elections officials already track outbound ballots in the mail from their office to voters.

The tracking costs 10 cents per unit to the elections office. Drasher said as of July 18 it would cost the county $800. The cost for this service would be covered under the Election Integrity Grant.

"That would allow us the ability, when a voter calls in, to tell them we can see it in the postal flow, we can see where it is," he said. "For the cost, I think it's a nice little window for reassurance with the voters."

Election officials have said there are no free range mail-in ballots being distributed. Mail-in ballots that are sent out by the elections office have been specifically requested by registered voters.

The elections office sent out 7,983 mail-in ballots for the 2024 primary, and received more than 6,410 mail-in ballots back by the 8 p.m. deadline April 23. Officials disqualified 63 mail-in ballots for issues that included missing the date on the return envelope and missing signatures.

Over the last two months, elections officials have sent out 4,618 notices to registered voters who may have changed their address. Elections Deputy Director Joy Scarbrough said the office gets those names from the United States Postal Service and PennDOT.

The elections office also noted 8,440 voters have been listed as inactive. Drasher said that inactive does not mean they have been scrubbed from voter rolls.

"It just means they haven't voted in a couple of elections and now we are keeping an eye on them," he said.

Inactive residents have two federal elections to do do something, such as contact the elections office. Drasher said after two federal elections, they get another warning before they are taken off the voter rolls.

"I know there are activist groups looking at that number and thinking these are people who are bad voters," he said. "They're not. A lot of people just vote in presidential (elections), so that's once every four years."

Despite the low turnout at the polls on April 23, elections officials in May were expecting an 80% to 90% overall turnout for a contentious presidential election Nov. 5.

Election preparations

Elections officials over the summer have been visiting nursing homes in the county to help residents and staff prepare for the upcoming election. Drasher said officials have been providing services that include helping people register to vote, sign up for a mail-in ballot and find a local polling place.

As of July 18, The elections office has done six visits, with at least four more visits upcoming and another six homes expressing interest in a visit.

Drasher said that the tack officials are taking during the visits is a firm legal stance on what staff and family members can or can't do for a resident.

"It is OK for someone who is blind to help them fill out their ballot, it is not OK to tell them who to vote for," he said. "It seems obvious, but people want to help. We've also been explaining to the nursing home staff how they can address this issue with families too, so they are comfortable explaining to the family the right way to do it."

Commissioners and election officials also spoke about possibly about consolidating precincts in the future, though most agreed that process would not take place this year.

County solicitor Matt Bugli said any consolidation action the election board approves would require county officials file a petition with the courts.

"Once the court sets a hearing, then (notices) have to be posted in five spots in a conspicuous location of each precinct that could be affected," he said. "So there are a lot of onerous notice requirements that go along with that, and then the court will hold a hearing on consolidation or other action regarding moving a boundary for a district."

The election code states that districts should not have less than 100 registered voters and no more than 1,200 registered voters, Bugli added. The law permits more than 1,200 voters to a precinct, but officials must show the court "good cause to keep it the way it is."

Officials said that Jan. 2026 would be the earliest changes in precincts could occur.

Election Info

The Pennsylvania 2024 general election is scheduled for Nov. 5. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 21. The last day to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is Oct. 29.

Residents looking for more information can visit the Lebanon County Voter Registration Office website at http://www.lebcounty.org/depts/Voter_Registration or contact them by phone at 717-228-4428.

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on X at @DAMattToth .

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: 'Business as usual': Biden departure won't affect Lebanon County election preparations