Elections division announces consolidation of voting polls

Allegheny County will operate 147 polling locations for the June 2 primary election, the elections division announced Friday.

The number — significantly smaller than in previous elections — is the result of a weekslong attempt to consolidate polling places, in anticipation of staffing shortages and concerns over the viability of in-person voting amid the COVID19 pandemic.

The county released the list of locations — one in each municipality and 18 across the city of Pittsburgh’s 32 voting wards — after it received verbal approval from the state to further consolidate locations. The state legislature had given counties the go-ahead to do so, but Allegheny County’s elections board passed a resolution in late April asking the state for more leeway.

The Post-Gazette compiled the list of polling locations in a public spreadsheet that can be accessed at this url: https://bit.ly/FindJune2PollingPlaces. The county says its elections website will be updated by Monday, but it “cannot give [voters] a time frame on when the state’s polling place locator information will be updated,” officials said in a statement.

The county normally operates about 1,300 polling locations, staffed by 6,500 workers. With the spread of

COVID-19 having already postponed the primary contests, the elections board’s resolution warned of the consequences of having too many in-person locations.

“Due to their fear of being exposed to the virus, many members of the local election boards have stated either that they will not serve or are reluctant to serve on Primary Election Day,” the resolution read. “Accordingly, there is a strong likelihood that many local polling districts will not have local election board members sufficient to properly conduct the June 2 Primary Election.”

Although there are 147 unique locations, the county notes sites “may include multiple polling places within that location so that physical distancing and other mitigation measures may be followed on Election Day.”

The county plans to send postcards to all households with eligible voters, advising them of where they are supposed to vote.

“There will also be additional outreach and information to the public and voters between now and Election Day, including on social media,” the county’s statement said.

Voters are encouraged to visit www.alleghenycounty.us/elections for information as it becomes available.