Thousands Of Voters In Allegheny County Cast Ballots Ahead Of Election Day
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - This is the last weekend for the additional election offices to be in operation in Allegheny County.
It is your chance to turn in your mail-in ballot in person or go vote early if you have not applied for a mail-in ballot.
About 13,000 ballots were handed in each of the first two weekends and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald expects even more this weekend.
"We are starting to get some indications that we might even have some national figures who may be coming this weekend to kind of rally the troops so stay tuned," Fitzgerald said.
In the 2016 presidential election, voters in Allegheny County cast 660,000 ballots and Fitzgerald says the request for the new mail-in ballots has been substantial.
"The fact that we're over 400,000, as we speak, tells us that's a lot of processing to be done, beginning at 7:00 on November 3," he said.
But can all those ballots plus those cast on election day be counted on Election day?
"I think it would be very difficult I don't see that being possible, they'll certainly work as hard as they can, watch as many machines, as many personnel they're doing what we can we will have partial results, but I can't tell you if that partial will be 20% 40% 60% 80% we just don't know until the process begins," Fitzgerald explained.
In fact, Fitzgerald says with ballots arriving in the mail up until Friday, November 6th.
"If it's a close election, we'll be doing a lot of counting the day after the day after that the day after that maybe the week after that of Election Day," he said.
While launching mail-in voting in a presidential year is adding pressure to the processing Fitzgerald says, "I think the intent was to get more people to participate, make it easier for people to vote and we've certainly had that having these satellite locations for the three weekends in October, allowing people to just vote by mail with the postage paid all of that has opened up the electorate, the ability for people to vote."
WATCH: What To Expect On Election Day In Allegheny County
As for lines on Election Day...
"Well, first of all, because so many people have used the mail-in ballots for whatever reason, whether because of COVID because they just didn't want to stand in line," Fitzgerald said. "The line should be less than we traditionally see."
Fitzgerald says they are making provisions to head off problems at the polls.
"You're always concerned and certainly in this election that is his attitude again some of the words that this President has said, given an indication to some of his, I'll call them more radical supporters," he said. "We're hoping not, I mean we're going to have law enforcement that will be ready to Sheriff's Department, various local police to make sure that people have the ability to vote."
The Additional Election Offices open this weekend are at the Boyce Park Ski Lodge, CCAC Allegheny on the North Side, CCAC South in West Mifflin, the County Elections Office in the County Office Building on Ross Street Downtown, and The North Park Ice Rink.
All those locations will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Saturday and 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.