Elections contracts approved as residents push for ballot drop boxes

Top Agenda Items

• Elections: contracts approved while residents request ballot drop boxes
• Home repair & lead safety funding updated
• Behavioral health services and crisis programs funded

Elections: contracts approved while residents request ballot drop boxes

Residents urged Westmoreland County Commissioners to add ballot drop boxes during public comment at the March 5 meeting, as officials approved contracts in advance of the May 19 primary.

Commissioners approved contracts to print paper ballots and election supplies (with William Penn Printing Company for $86,081.32) and to transport election voting equipment (with Ryan Moving, LLC for $69,386).

Several residents spoke during public comment to ask commissioners for ballot drop boxes. They said drop boxes make voting easier for everyone from aging and disabled residents, to busy working professionals, and those without reliable transportation.

Westmoreland County offered ballot drop boxes during the Covid-19 pandemic, but in recent elections the only drop box for voters has been in the elections division office inside the courthouse where voters have to go through security to cast their ballots.

After the meeting, Commissioner Ted Kopas told residents he supported drop boxes. Having previously noted that Westmoreland County has roughly the same land area as the state of Rhode Island, Kopas said there is “clearly demand for drop boxes. . . . It just really seems common sense and simple to me.”

Commission Chair Sean Kertes disagreed, and said the county promoted the use of drop boxes in local newspapers when they were deployed during the pandemic and they were too underused to justify putting them out again.

Kopas proposed placing a single drive-up drop box in the back of the courthouse, staffed by the Elections Bureau.

Kopas also said commissioners Kertes and Doug Chew voted to purchase paper ballots which hardly anyone used.

For the November 2025 general election, the county had enough ballots printed for everyone who voted to do so on paper, but only 5% of residents opted for a paper ballot over the electronic machine, costing taxpayers more than $7 for each paper ballot cast.

Asked if he would support Kopas’s compromise for a drive-up dropbox, Kertes said “I dunno, I just have a sour taste in my mouth from just doing it and not seeing the benefit of it.” He added, “If you're walking into here, why not walk twenty more feet?”

Money originally for exterior repairs moved to make homes accessible

Commissioners also amended agreements tied to housing rehabilitation and lead safety programs.

The changes included agreements that are part of the county’s Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes Program and the Whole Home Repairs Program, which help to maintain the county’s housing stock by paying for needed repairs that homeowners cannot afford.

Commissioners approved changing the agreement with the Redevelopment Authority of Westmoreland County for the Whole Home Repairs Program, by reducing the budget for roofing, gutter, and window repairs by $160,000 and adding that money to the line items for accessible home modifications. That money will now pay for more accessibility improvements like ramps and bathroom modifications which ensure residents can stay in their homes.

Behavioral health and crisis services funding increased

Commissioners approved new contracts and increased spending on existing behavioral health and developmental health agreements. The money for many of the programs comes through a combination of state grants and federal behavioral health funding streams that the  county administers for residents.

Behavioral health services funded this month included:

• $2.7 million to pay Westmoreland Case Management & Supports, Inc. to help residents with behavioral health and intellectual disabilities remain in the community;
• $500,000 to pay UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Mon Yough to provide walk-in services;
• $20,000 increase for Neurological Therapy Specialists for speech pathology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and special instruction;
• $83,000 increase for Southwest Behavioral Management, Inc.’s administrative oversight and behavioral health services;
• $10,000 to be paid to Nulton Diagnostics for blended case management; and  
• $4,854 to pay Alchera, Inc./SafeInHome, Inc. for assistive technology for people with intellectual disabilities.