In response to a request from Northampton County Voting Registrar Amy Cozze, County Council voted unanimously at their March 19 meeting to urge Governor Tom Wolf to delay the fast-approaching Presidential primary, currently scheduled for April 28.

Cozze explained that, in addition to being inundated with applications for mail-in ballots, the governor’s shutdown order means she has no printer for provisional ballots. In addition, Lehigh University has closed, and is unable to host one of the precincts used. She provided a copy of a letter that York County commissioners have already sent to the governor, and Council member John Cusick added that the County Commissioners’ Association of Pa. has also resolved to request Wolf to delay the election. Philadelphia is also seeking a delay.

Cozze may get her wish. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Wolf has been meeting with legislative leaders about a possible delay until late May or June.

Seven states have already delayed the presidential primary.

In the meantime, Northampton County’s elections office has received 5,700 applications for either an absentee or mail-in ballot, according to Cozze. This is well in excess of the 2,000 that the office had just three weeks ago.

Statewide, over 113,000 applications have been submitted, about three times the number of applications received at this point in the last Presidential race.

This sharp increase is obviously a combination of recent changes in state law, along with concerns about COVID-19.

Election judges have all receiving enhanced training on the ExpressVote XL voting system that had, to say the least, an inauspicious debut in November.

The machines have been recalibrated to avoid some of the sensitivity issues that occurred in November. In addition, vendor ES&S has installed a light next to the paper ballot so voters can examine their choices before casting their ballots. The font size is at least 14, larger than the font on this newsprint.