Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, expands voting access ahead of Passover and primary election
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — Passover starts next week, coinciding with the Pennsylvania primary election. While many Jews will not be voting during the holiday, officials in Montgomery County are working to ensure people can vote ahead of Election Day.
"Passover for us is one of our top three holidays in Jewish tradition," said Rabbi Chana Leslie Glazer, of Temple Brith Achim.
She was thrilled that Jewish voters in Montgomery County have more opportunities to vote without affecting their Passover observation.
"Observant Jews are obligated not to work on those days, just as they do on the Jewish Sabbath. So in those communities, they would not go out to vote at all," Glazer said.
She said this is important because the temple is a polling place in King of Prussia.
"We're not open on the primary day, because we are having our big Passover Seder," she said.
Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makija pushed for expanded hours at satellite polling locations. He also pushed for 24-hour access to most mail-in ballot drop boxes, which are normally open only during business hours.
"Those are steps that we can take to make sure that everyone has a chance to have their vote," he said.
County Voting Services Director Francis Dean says it is important that mail-in ballots be filled out properly.
"People will not fill in the 24 for the year," he explained while showing how to properly date a ballot. "They will write 4/23/20, and we cannot accept that because that is not a valid year."
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Dean also stressed that all ballots be placed in the yellow "privacy envelope" before being put in the white envelope before mailing or dropping into a drop box. He also said that every precaution is being taken to secure and pick up those ballots.
"All of those sites are serviced everyday by a pair of sheriff's deputies. Those deputies take those ballots right back to our mail-in facility here in Norristown voters can expect to receive confirmation of their receipt within 24 hours," he said.
For a list of polling places or mail-in ballot drop boxes near you, visit the Montgomery County Voter Services website.