A Power to the Hill volunteer hands a voter an “I voted” sticker.
For a crazy election season, voting in Dauphin County seems to be running pretty smoothly. At least, there are no surprises yet.
Early this morning, in-person voters began making their way to the polls, while those who voted by mail stayed warm at home.
According to Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries, polling places were busy starting at 7 a.m., with some voters waiting an hour or more to cast their ballot. By mid-morning, the crowds had slowed to a steady stream.
Pries expects, by the end of the day, a turnout percentage in the 70s-range, including in-person voting and mail-in ballots.
Although a majority of residents in the county chose to vote by mail this year, some were hesitant.
“I feel like voting in-person is more secure,” said resident John Peterson who cast his vote at Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren. “There’s no chance of it getting lost.”
While many, like Peterson, have felt stressed during this election season, volunteers were at the polling location to ease the tension.
“We want to provide a safe, welcoming space whether it’s election day or not,” said Josiah Ludwick, the church’s associate pastor.
Others, like Power to the Hill, a nonprofit focused on voter engagement in Allison Hill, set up snack tables and helped direct voters to the polls.
“This is a chance for us to thank people for voting,” said group co-founder Leta Beam. “It’s to celebrate, to say hooray!”
Power to the Hill volunteers hand out food at Hamilton Health Center.
First-time voter Angelica Marquez voted at Hamilton Health Center this morning.
“Since it was my first time, I wanted the in-person experience,” she said.
While in-person votes around the county roll in today, over 53,000 people already have voted by mail in Dauphin County.
Close to 40 volunteers have been sorting, opening and scanning ballots to be counted since this morning.
“We are very confident in Dauphin County that we are not only going to have our in-person votes tallied tonight […] but we are also hoping and anticipating that we will have all of our mail-in ballots counted by midnight or early tomorrow morning,” Pries said.
Results will begin rolling out by 8:30 p.m., Pries said.
Volunteers are running ballots through a machine that opens the outer and inner envelopes. The fastest of the two machines can open 40,000 envelopes per hour, Pries said. Once opened, ballots are transported to another room for scanning and counting.
Ballots that are missing any piece of information or an envelope, so-called “naked ballots,” may be rejected and voters will be notified, said Dauphin County Elections Office Deputy Director Chris Spackman.
However, Pries said that, when people come to the Dauphin County Administration Building to return their ballot, they are asked whether they have all the envelopes and signatures needed.
There have been a few minor glitches to the ballot counting machines, he added, but they’re still on track to meet their deadline.
Although the period of accepting mail-in ballots was extended for three days under a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Pries believes voters will still have a relatively clear picture of the results.
“We will have a really good idea by late tonight or early hours of the morning what’s happening in these races,” he said.
For more information and to track Election Day results, visit Dauphin County’s website.
