Here's a look at safety measures at the Pittsburgh warehouse where ballots get counted
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Allegheny County is getting everything together to make sure Election Day's vote and vote counting go smoothly.
According to county data, more than 250,000 mail-in ballots were requested and almost 187,000 have been returned. Overall, there are 950,000 registered voters in the county.
"We want this process to open to let people know what we're doing, and we want everything to be done and counted on time and counted correctly," Allegheny County Elections Division Manager Dave Voye said.
The mail-in ballots that have been received are in a locked cage at Allegheny County's election warehouse. The mail-in ballots can't be opened until Election Day. So far, the ballots have been checked for signatures and dates. In all 1,190 of them need to be cured and 738 have. The warehouse is under video surveillance and security.
"Your ballot is tabulated correctly in this county. There are no two ways about it," Voye said.
Voting machine safety in Allegheny County
Ballot machines have been going out since Monday. In the county alone, there are 1,327 polling places. Each of these machines is put in a secure spot at the polling location until Election Day. Keys for them are not given to the judge of elections until this weekend.
Election workers said they have had no issues with fraud or the machines in the past.
"If anything, we have some confusion sometimes where they are locked in the closet, and someone shows up and they say our voting machines are gone," Allegheny County elections assistant division manager Chet Harhut said.
According to the county, there are several ballot return sites. They will continue through Monday. The county office building will collect ballots on Election Day if you still need to drop them off. They are all manned by three election workers, county police and video surveillance.
"Someone can't just walk up and throw it in. We take them from the voter, check it, and put it in the box ourselves," Harhut said.
If you have any questions about your mail-in ballot, call your county bureau of elections.
