Will This PA County Send New Voting Van To ‘Targeted’ Dem Areas?

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania announced Friday the launch of the swing state’s “first Voter Services Mobile Satellite Office,” a customized van from which residents can register to vote and return completed ballots, among other things.

A resolution including a contract award for a “voter services” van was approved 2-1 in August by the board of county commissioners’ Democrat majority. Last week, the “mobile satellite office” made its first public appearance at a local fall festival, the city says. But the board’s Thomas DiBello, the Republican who did not vote for the van, tells The Federalist he does not support this mobile get-out-the-vote effort in the community ahead of next month’s election.

The van is equipped to provide the “same services as a regular satellite office,” according to the Montgomery County website. “During periods of high traffic,” the county says it “operate[s] [these] separate satellite locations to better serve … residents.”

“No appointment is needed to visit these locations,” the county website says.

This means citizens could register to vote, update their registration, request a mail-in ballot, and return their completed ballot at the van or at a regular satellite office in the few weeks left before Election Day.

The county is also allowing voters who mailed in ballots without properly marking the exterior envelope with a signature and date, to cure their ballot from the van so the vote can be counted, DiBello confirmed to The Federalist. It is a controversial practice often argued in Pennsylvania courts. The state election code says ballots must be properly marked on the exterior envelope to be counted. Some counties interpret this law to prohibit a ballot curing period, and others allow the practice. Secretary of State Al Schmidt earned criticism for telling counties to flag ballots in need of curing so voters will be notified to come in and make changes to them.

In 2021, ahead of the midterms, the city of Racine in battleground Wisconsin purchased a “mobile elections unit,” “tapping into more than $200,000 of the nearly $1.7 million the Democrat enclave received in ‘Zuckbucks’ — election administration grants funded by private billionaire Mark Zuckerberg,’” as The Federalist’s M.D. Kittle previously reported, writing how a County Circuit court judge declared in January of this year “that nothing in state law allowed for the use of the voting van, and further found that its use at multiple, particular sites around the city gave Democrats a partisan advantage.” In June, the state Supreme Court upheld a ban on the “voting booth on wheels,” at least for the time being, Kittle later reported.

The van is the “first of its kind in Pennsylvania,” according to Neil Makhija, chair of the Montgomery County Board of Elections and vice chair of the county commissioner board.

“It’s one of several steps we’re taking to make this election more accessible than ever. We’ve doubled our secure ballot drop boxes, opened more satellite voter services offices than ever, and now this mobile satellite office can reach more people where they already are,” Makhija, a Democrat said in a statement. “Our goal is to increase voter access to the information and tools they need to participate in our democracy.”

The three-member elected board of the Montgomery County Commissioners all serve on the board of elections, which is the norm in Pennsylvania. The two Democrats on the board voted in favor of the van.

“We can especially reach people in places where accessibility challenges make it harder to visit a voter services office, such as senior facilities and community centers,” Democrat Jamila H. Winder, chair of the county board of commissioners, said in the statement. “We’re also able to connect directly with voters at festivals and public events. Wherever the community gathers, we aim to get out there to make sure people are informed and ready to vote this election.”

Republican Thomas DiBello did not vote for the van. But he did confirm to The Federalist, that the county is using the van to cure ballots. He also confirmed that voters who mail in faulty ballots will be contacted by the county, and the van will come to their address and allow them to cure the ballot by adding a signature or date.

DiBello said it cost the county $145,000 to buy a new van and have it customized with a fold-down customer window installed on the side, countertops for workspace inside, and lettering on the outside.    

“I don’t support the vehicle. I don’t support what we’re doing with it,” DiBello told The Federalist. “I don’t think something like that should be rolled out with such a big election in November. We really didn’t have established processes and procedures that they’re kind of creating stuff as we go along.”

“The question really becomes, where’s this vehicle going?” DiBello said. “They’ve been trying to bring it to different community things. And now, what I’m most recently hearing is, they want to bring it to elderly communities, low-income apartment complexes — in my opinion, very targeted areas, targeted to possibly a specific political party.”

He was told the county wants to provide more access for voters, but he believes the county already provides ample voting access, even going “way beyond majority of the counties in Pennsylvania as far as voter accessibility,” he said.

Montgomery previously had 12 drop boxes, DiBello said, but now has 18. Election season is happening now; the county is currently receiving ballots. Voters who are not returning their ballot by mail or can’t make it to their county election office can visit one of the 18 drop boxes or go to one of the eight satellite offices listed on the county website (up from four, DiBello said). These satellite offices will be open from Oct. 4 to Oct. 28 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays.

For voters who want to vote the old-fashioned way, at a traditional polling place, Montgomery County has hundreds of polling locations on Election Day.

Each satellite office has six or seven election workers, DiBello said, and he noted that the county hired extra election workers to staff the van and offices.

Dibello indicated “a lot of community members” are “reaching out” to him, and that “they are not happy.”

Montgomery, population of more than 864,600 as of 2022, is a pivotal county in battleground Pennsylvania. The county is home to some high-profile Democrat operatives and Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was once a county commissioner in Montgomery.

As of this week, Montgomery has 308,605 registered Democrats; 210,332 Republicans; and 104,136 “other” registered voters, Pennsylvania Department of State data shows. The difference between registered Democrats and Republicans is 98,273.

The Federalist asked Makhija for a phone interview and emailed him some questions. Makhija copied County Communications Director Megan Alt, who responded.

“Voting in Montgomery County is safe, secure and accessible,” Alt wrote, responding to a question asking why the county decided to add the van. “With our new Voter Services Mobile Outreach Van, we are investing in accessibility and meeting eligible voters where they are—so that everyone in Montgomery County has the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.”

Responding to a question asking where the van will go, Alt said “[t]he van will visit community events, senior living facilities, college campuses, and more.”

The Federalist sent a few additional questions: Will the van go out by request? for example, can a voter ask you to come to their home address so they can vote? What will the van be doing on Election Day? Who decides where the van goes?

Neither Alt nor Makhija responded to these questions.

For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.