Franklin County primary day goes on despite coronavirus hurdles

Linda Goodman and her crew of volunteers have been working primary day voting stations in Chambersburg for years.

So when faced with the prospect of braving a pandemic to come in to the Chambersburg Area School District Administrative building early on Tuesday morning and man a location that saw 60% of its registered voters submit ballots via mail, Goodman and Co. didn't bat an eye.

They planned to follow the guidelines and training Franklin County armed them with and help facilitate a smooth election day in the middle of turbulent times.

"I felt that [the county] provided enough protection for us that I felt safe doing it," Goodman said. "I didn't have any problem [coming in]."

Across Franklin County polling locations, numerous protocols were put in place to help thwart any spread of COVID-19. Masks were required — and provided, if a person did not have one — for both voters and volunteers, with safety tape marking socially distanced gaps for people to stand. Each voter registering received their own sign-in pen to prevent sharing of the same one throughout the day. Hand sanitizer was made widely available as well.

"I think they've done as much as they can," Goodman said. "And we're staying as far apart as we can while still doing our work."

More:Franklin County heads to the polls today for primary 2020 voting

At the Greencastle Baptist Church polling location, another group of year-in, year-out volunteers headed by Vonda Meyers also adjusted to the temporary new normal.

"The county provided everything we needed, and we were able to keep the voters safe," Meyers said. "And we have everything we needed to allow them to feel safe and comfortable. I think it was done very well."

 A large number of mail-in votes contributed to a lower in-person turnout. Meyers described the flow of voters as "steady" and locations followed distancing protocols. 

The voters who did come in personally had various reasons for forgoing a mail-in ballot, like Mary Webb of Greencastle, who said her faith gave her enough confidence to make the trip despite coronavirus risks.

"I trust [them] and him up there to protect me," said Webb, who says she votes in person every year. "I could just as well get [coronavirus] at home."

Others, like Bill Porter of Chambersburg, did so in part to voice of his opposition to the concept of mail-in voting.

"I think it's important that everyone votes. It's a right that we all have," Porter said. "And if we can stand in line at Lowe's, at Giant, then we can stand in line and vote personally."

Chambersburg's John Bruno said that he's voted in every election since he was 18 in New York and wasn't going to allow the pandemic to prevent him from supporting change.

"It's important to go out and vote," Bruno said. "Especially with everything going on around here in this country. I'm not happy with it."

More:Live Results: See Franklin County, Pennsylvania updates from primary election voting

People like Bruno, Porter and Webb are why volunteers came out on Tuesday, Meyers said. 

"I think people's opinions and votes should still be heard," Meyers said. "Even though all of this is going on, they still have that right for their vote to be given."

Mail-in ballots won't be counted until Wednesday

With the large number of mail-in ballots submitted, Franklin County will not tally those results until Wednesday morning.

In past elections, the absentees were sent out to the polling place and were scanned in on their precinct scanners at the end of the evening.  Now, law requires that the absentee and mail-in ballots be kept at the county to be counted centrally. 

Franklin County purchased a high-speed central scanner to help count more than the 15,000 requested ballots.