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?”