Secretary; Elections Will Be Safe From Voter Intimidation

Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt held his 4th election update briefing on Wednesday, instead of the usual Tuesday. This week he noted that no part of any voting system used in Pennsylvania is ever connected to or permitted on in internet facing network. He said through bipartisan efforts, law enforcement partners, including the Pennsylvania State Police, and other state agencies are working together to ensure that they are prepared for any developments on, or even after, election day. He added, “to keep our voting infrastructure secure, the department relies on a number of cybersecurity layers such as 24/7 network monitoring firewalls and encryption.” He also addressed the topic of voter intimidation by commenting, according to the Pennsylvania election code, unless they are voting, serving a warrant or preventing disturbances, police officers and military personnel are prohibited being within 100 feet of a polling place. He added that requests for mail-in ballots are much higher during this cycle than the most recent midterm general election in 2022. More than one million voters have asked for mail-in ballots, and 30 counties have started to fulfill those requests. The deadline to register to vote in Pennsylvania is October 19; the deadline to apply for a mail ballot is October 27^th and ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. on election day, Tuesday, November 3.