Reforming elections by allowing counties to precanvas mail-in and absentee ballots, and moving the mail-in ballot application deadline to 15 days before the election, is the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania's top legislative priority this year.

The CCAP placed election reform at the summit of its top five list of the priorities the organization intends to address with Gov. Tom Wolf and the General Assembly, and outlined those priorities in a Zoom meeting on Tuesday that was presided over by Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel, CCAP president.

Act 77 of 2019 allowed voters to apply for a mail-in ballot up to seven days before an election. It led to some voters not receiving their ballots before the deadline to submit them at 8 p.m. on election day or receiving them too close to the deadline for ballots to be returned via mail by 8 p.m. on election night.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Wednesday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.