Butler Eagle file photo

Two Butler County commissioners have singled out election integrity as an issue they would like the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania to address this year.

Commissioners Leslie Osche and Kim Geyer wrote in a joint news release Wednesday, Jan. 25, that they oppose pre-canvassing mail-in ballots, despite the association’s approval of the practice. Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel said he also supports pre-canvassing.

Pre-canvassing is when election officials prepare absentee and mail-in ballots before they are counted on election night. The association said in a news update Wednesday that expanding pre-canvassing and extending the mail-in ballot application deadlines “remain the most important changes counties are seeking to improve election administration.”

Osche disagreed.

“Agreeing to pre-canvassing in order to get Voter ID is dangerous,” Osche said. “We do not support pre-canvassing in exchange for anything. Butler County has been able to complete the canvassing and tabulation of mail-in ballots on election day well before the close of polls. The legislature made financial resources available to counties to accomplish this task on election day.”

Butler County received 33,215 mail-in ballots in the 2020 election, and 18,212 mail-in ballots in the 2022 election.

The commissioners said there are other ways to maintain election integrity.

In addition to pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots, the association announced Wednesday that it also considered 911 funding and reauthorization, county inmates with mental health issues, county mental health base funding, the needs of children and youth who have complex behavioral health issues, and broadband access and development.

The reauthorization of 911 funding was the top priority listed by the association.

The association previously formed an emergency management committee to manage funding for county 911 centers, but Boozel said its funding will end in January 2024.

Albert “Chip” Abramovic, CCAP president and Venango County commissioner, said as part of the committee’s renewal process, the association supports a review of the 911 funding streams to make sure counties have “adequate, consistent and sustainable funding to maintain their responsibility as the first line of emergency response, both now and in the years to come."

Boozel also said he supports finding a financing stream for 911 centers, because other initiatives are already cutting into their funding.

“Congress passed the 988 number unfunded, so they're talking about tapping into the same funding, which puts our county 911 at risk,” Boozel said. “We're asking them to re-look at the formula and figure out the funding.”

All three Butler County commissioners said they support the rest of the priorities listed by the association, particularly children with behavioral health issues. Boozel said the state needs more behavioral health facilities for children, which would require more funding.

He also said the expansion and improvement of broadband has long been a talking point by the association and state legislature, which will take time to get into place.

“We are doing everything we can to identify the most inaccessible areas in an affordable way,” Boozel said. “It's going to take legislation to see if providers are capable of putting this together.

“It's going to be a process to get there.”

Osche and Geyer put their focus on Act 77 and mail-in ballots.

State legislature passed Act 77 to provide funding for new voting machines, allow for no-excuse mail-in ballots with security measures, and eliminate straight-party ticket voting.

Geyer said the association’s governance committee approved a resolution to support repealing Act 77. She said the committee insists that “any changes to expand voting practices beyond those in the state constitution be done by constitutional amendment and with the input of counties.”

Osche said the tabulation of mail-in ballots presents a dilemma, because they are not counted on election day by an elected judge or inspectors.

“One thing that I continue to promote is the idea that the central count center for mail-in ballots is like a precinct, but functions absent a judge and inspectors who have been duly elected by the people,” Osche said. “The number of mail-in ballots and chain of custody challenges make it nearly impossible to send those ballots to their respective precincts to be counted by their duly elected judges.”