Democrats in one of the most pivotal battleground states are pushing past concerns about the efficiency of the Postal Service and making voting by mail a centerpiece of their election mobilization strategy.
Despite a president who has continually maligned the process, Republican lawsuits aimed at restricting the practice, and an edict from former First Lady Michelle Obama at last week’s Democratic National Convention to “vote in person if we can,” Pennsylvania Democrats have settled on a concerted effort to urge their voters to cast ballots through the mail — a campaign that already appears to be paying dividends.
Democrats in Pennsylvania account for two-thirds of the 1.3 million mail ballot requests that have already been made, according to a top Democratic political data firm. Unlike some western states that have voted by mail for several election cycles and Florida, which has used the practice for nearly two decades, Pennsylvania is entering uncharted waters this fall, as a no-excuse mail voting law was first signed last October.
“I have utter confidence and I have to say that in the face of a president who is doing everything in his power to undermine our Postal Service,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat who represents the Philadelphia suburbs. “What I have confidence in is the postal workers themselves. They are public servants and they’re going to get the job done.”
Leading Democratic Party figures in Pennsylvania emphasize that although mail voting is the focal point of their strategy, they are still preparing to encourage their voters to submit their ballots in a variety of ways — part of a complicated, well-funded campaign in a state whose voters have traditionally turned out on Election Day only.
The multi-pronged effort is a partial acknowledgment that some voters — particularly in the African American community — are wary about the reliability of the post office and insistent that they vote in the way they always have, these Democrats say. A Muhlenberg College poll released last week found that 64% of all Pennsylvania voters still said they intended to cast their ballot in person.
But Democratic leaders also contend they’ve remedied the issues that plagued them in the June primary when election officials were overwhelmed by a deluge of mail-in ballot requests during the coronavirus pandemic. It was the first time the state had conducted a mail-in election since a new law authorized the procedure last year and the surge in requests ultimately delayed the tabulation process, which in Philadelphia continued for close to two weeks.
Dean said in Montgomery County — the third-largest in the state — commissioners have since used federal funds from the Cares Act to add eight staffers and more technology to help process the vote faster.