(RepublicanInformer.com)- Just a handful of days before the presidential election, thousands of voters in Butler County, Pennsylvania, still haven’t received their ballots. On Thursday, local officials reportedly “pulled out all the stops” to ensure that all voters are allowed to cast their ballot, but the fact that thousands of people are complaining they have not received ballots less than a week before the election has cast doubt on the integrity of the election.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Butler County Elections Director Aaron Sheasley said they are focused on making sure everyone gets their ballots and can get them back in time to be counted in the election.
Doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence, does it?
Out of the 40,000 ballots sent out in the county, only 21,300 have been returned. Officials from Butler County have said that thousands of people have called in to say they haven’t received their ballot yet, prompting them to deploy 40 members of staff to handle the problem. Deputy sheriffs are even getting involved, delivering ballots to people who are unable to vote in person.
Leslie Osche, the chair of Butler County’s Board of Commissioners, explained how they had responded to the calls from people who hadn’t received their ballots.
“We have our deputy sheriffs, probably two at a time every several hours. We have our entire commissioner’s office staff returning phone calls and taking calls,” she said. “The Veterans Bureau staff is taking calls. The D.A. is preparing for the election. The sheriff is taking calls. I mean, it really is, it’s pretty much the entire building at this point.”
So the issue is being handled, but how and why did this happen in the first place?
It seems like nobody knows. Even the United States Postal Service.
A USPS spokesperson told Fox that they were “unaware of any significant delays or issues” and that they are in “regular contact with the Board of Election” to locate and deliver ballots as they are presented to them.
“With a record number of people across the country voting by mail, the U.S. Postal Service’s number one priority between now and the November election is the secure, timely delivery of the nation’s Election Mail,” the spokesman said.
With Pennsylvania being so hotly contested, a small margin victory for either candidate could potentially result in legal challenges. Especially if people don’t receive their ballots on time.
