“60 Minutes” Goes Behind the Scenes with Chester County to Showcase Election Security
Millions of Pennsylvanians will vote by mail in the Nov. 5 general election.
On a recent episode of CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Chester County’s Department of Voter Services gave a national audience a behind-the-scenes look at the many checks and balances in place to safeguard the vote and ensure an accurate count.
Voting by mail is safe, secure and convenient. Officials follow established procedures to ensure exactly one vote per one eligible voter is counted. At a ballot intake center in Chester County, Karen Barsoum, director of voter services, walked viewers through the many built-in processes for verification, ensuring eligibility and accuracy every step of the way.
State law does not permit counties to begin processing mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Barsoum explained that this rigorous process includes a review of each ballot return envelope to verify that a voter is entitled to vote, and that the voter has signed a declaration on the back. Verified return envelopes are opened, and the ballots are extracted, flattened and scanned.
The total processing time for mail-in ballots can vary significantly, depending on the staff and equipment available in counties and the volume of ballots returned.
The “60 Minutes” episode also featured interviews with Department of State Sec. Al Schmidt, who previously served as the GOP representative on the Philadelphia City Commission, which oversees election administration in the city, and former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.
They stressed that the state has implemented a range of measures to ensure every aspect of the election process – from voter registration to the certification of results – is both safe and secure, detailing the tried-and-tested systems that ensure votes are cast fairly and counted correctly.
CLICK HERE to watch the full episode of “60 Minutes.”