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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County expressing the sense of Council in calling for an expansion of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's emergency declaration to allow the county to send a ballot to every registered voter in Allegheny County so that the June 2, 2020 Primary Election may be conducted by mail, consistent with the recommendation the Allegheny County Health Department.
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Whereas, Act 12 of 2020 allowed for the consolidation of polling places for the primary, but no more than a 60% reduction in locations except as approved by the department of state; and
Whereas, there are 1,323 polling places within Allegheny County, which require a total of 6,615 poll workers on-site to function correctly; and
Whereas, a 60% reduction in polling places Countywide would result in 529 polling places remaining open, which would still require 2,645 poll workers on-site in order to function correctly; and
Whereas, regardless of the number of polling places, additional County staff and resources would be needed to provide for troubleshooting and overall elections operations; and
Whereas, as of April 13, Allegheny County had 47,313 mail and absentee ballot applications submitted online, and another 9,022 paper requests processed as well, for 56,335 total requests, a number which reflects about 16% of the number of ballots cast in the last presidential primary (359,800); and
Whereas, as of April 14, there are nearly 900 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Allegheny County; and
Whereas, due to community spread and limited capacity for testing, there is also a presumption that there are many other positives cases in the county; and
Whereas, voting in person could put our poll workers, many of whom are members of our most vulnerable populations, who are most at risk for the most serious effects of COVID-19 - as well as the general voting public - at risk; and
Whereas, while the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania oversees the electoral process, the various counties a...
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