By: Hannah Wiley, Assistant Features Editor
Going into the 2024 presidential election, it was clear that out of all the swing states, Pennsylvania was going to be the deciding factor on who the 47th President of the United States was going to be. Being a PA resident, I voted via absentee ballot, so I sat down with other students from PA who also voted through mail-in to see what the process was like for them.
Historically Pennsylvania has been not only a swing state, but also one of the most important swing states. The amount of electoral votes a state gets is based on their population. Pennsylvania has a population of 12.9 million people, which is the 5th most populated state. This means that they get 19 electoral votes meaning they are ranked 6th tied with Illinois who also has 19 and behind New York who 28. Beyond that, Pennsylvania’s margin in which a candidate wins the state is small. In 2020, Joe Biden only won the state of Pennsylvania by 82,000 votes.
Many people don’t realize how hard the process is to get your absentee ballot. When talking to senior Lio Salazar, who voted in Franklin County, PA, they said they had a hard time obtaining their ballot this year for the election. Lio registered to vote in the state of PA in 2020 prior to the presidential election. They originally tried applying for their mail-in ballot – a process that, in itself, is extremely confusing. With the websites being hard to navigate, they ended up submitting the wrong application. So, Lio attended a Voter Registration Week event hosted by the United Students Association to get some help.
Lio’s next step was trying one more time to apply for a mail-in ballot, but this didn’t turn out as easy as it should have been either. They waited and waited until it said the ballot had been delivered, but it never got to the mailroom. They later found out their absentee ballot had been sent to their home in Pennsylvania.
“This past Thursday, my mother was like, ‘What do you want to do?’ And I asked if it was possible for her and my dad to bring it up to Buffalo from Pennsylvania, and it's like a six hour drive” Lio said. And that's exactly what they did. Lio’s parents drove six hours to get to Buffalo at 9 p.m., and Lio filled out their absentee ballot in Saigon Cafe on Elmwood.
Next, I talked with junior Emma Serrian who is from Reading, PA and voted in Berks County. Emma seemed to have had an overall easier time voting through mail-in ballots.
“Everything can be done online and you can track the ballot, when it’s coming, and when it’s been shipped out and arrived, which is nice,” Emma said. “The ballot mailed pretty quick and was super easy to fill out. All the instructions were clear on where to sign and date and I felt like everything was protected considering it was in two envelopes.”
Emma also talked about her friend who voted via mail-in ballot in the state of Connecticut, saying that the CT ballots come with information about voting and even policies that the state is voting on. Emma continued on to say, “I think that is something that would be super valuable to add into all mail-in ballots so we can make sure everyone has the correct facts before voting.”
No matter what state you are from, it's important to register to vote, and to vote in every election. For those students who are out-of-state, next time, remember that the process of obtaining an absentee ballot isn’t always the easiest, so apply as soon as possible to make sure your ballot gets to you in time, and that you can make your voice heard.
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