Thousands of voters in Butler County, Pennsylvania, have complained that they have yet to receive their ballots in the mail less than a week before Election Day.
Local officials have “pulled out all the stops” in their attempt to ensure that each voter is allowed to cast their ballot, Butler County’s Elections Director Aaron Sheasley told Fox News on Thursday. “We are 100% focused on making sure that everybody gets their ballots and that they are able to get them back to us in time to be counted for the election.”
Of the 40,000 ballots sent out, approximately 21,300 have been returned, but officials claim that thousands of Butler County residents have phoned in or emailed to claim their ballot has yet to arrive. Around 40 people have been tasked with handling the issues, including deputy sheriffs who are delivering ballots to those who are incapable of voting in-person.
Butler County Board of Commissioners Chair Leslie Osche said, “We have our deputy sheriffs… probably two at a time every several hours… We have our entire commissioner’s office staff returning phone calls and taking calls. The Veterans Bureau staff is taking calls. The D.A. is preparing for the election. The sheriff is taking calls. I mean, it really is, it’s pretty much the entire building at this point.”
Osche confirmed that “thousands of calls and emails from voters saying they did not receive their mail-in ballot.” She also said that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) “is maintaining daily contact with [the] Elections Bureau and [is] aware of the situation.”
A USPS spokesperson told Fox News: “Regarding mail sorting and delivery in Butler County, the Postal Service is unaware of any significant delays or issues and is in regular contact with the Board of Election as we work to locate and deliver ballots as they are presented to us.”
“With a record number of people across the country voting by mail, the U.S. Postal Service’s number one priority between now and the November election is the secure, timely delivery of the nation’s Election Mail,” the spokesperson added.
Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, has been fraught with ballot issues, such as when multiple military ballots were found discarded. As The Daily Wire reported:
Federal law enforcement officials have ordered that Luzerne County, in Pennsylvania, must change its practices after multiple military ballots were found discarded. Out of the ballots that were discovered to have been opened, all of them had been cast for President Donald Trump.
“The FBI has recovered a number of documents relating to military ballots that had been improperly opened by your elections staff, and had the ballots removed and discarded, or removed and placed separately from the envelope containing confidential voter information and attestation,” U.S. Attorney David J. Freed said in a letter to Shelby Watchilla, Director of Elections of Luzerne County Bureau of Elections.
Related: Court Sides With Pennsylvania Democrats, Mail-In Ballots To Be Counted 3 Days After Election Day