EAST BRADFORD — Election Day 2024 dawned misty and overcast at the East Bradford Municipal Building at 7 a.m., and by 7:45 a.m., Cecilia Pizzino and her husband, Joseph Pizzino, had completed their civic duty.
The two voters stopped on their way out of the township building, where a line of more than 150 voters had assembled Tuesday morning to cast their ballots in the hotly contested election for president and other state and federal offices, and chatted briefly with a reporter.
“I voted for Kamala,” said Cecilia proudly, speaking of Vice President Kamala Harris. “I’m a lifelong Democrat, and I think she will do better for our country.
“I think Trump is a wannabe dictator, and I think with Harris I just feel that eve if you don’t agree with every one of her policies, at least we can keep our Democracy.” Her husband had little to add.
“I agree with everything she said,” he laughed.
But a few miles away and more than an hour later, East Goshen voter Mary Mahaffy had a different outlook. She had cast a vote for former President Donald Trump and was eager to speak about it.
“I want to remain in a non-communist country,” she said in the township parking lot, with a friend who had accompanied her to the polls. I want our Constitution to still thrive.
“I served in the military and I have friends who fought,” she said. “We are the last hope, but we’re going the wrong way and we don’t look like America anymore. Sovereignty is a word that comes to mind.”
Those three were among the thousands of Chester County voters expected to flood polling places across the county’s 73 municipalities, casting their ballots for president, U.S. senator, congressperson, and state legislators and executive officers well past sunset. Polls will close at 8 p.m., but will remain open for those in line at that time.
As of Monday, there were 396,103 registered voters in the county, with Democratic registration still leading Republicans – with 163,285 Democrats to 157,249 Republicans and 75,569 third party and independent voters.
Of those 396,103 voters, a healthy percentage had already cast their ballots by mail or early in-person voting by Monday. County statistics from the Office of Voter Services showed that of the 122,057 mail-in ballots that had been requested, 95,507 had been returned and recorded.
Of those returned and recorded: 50,442 were from registered Democrats and 30,323 were from registered Republicans.
Commissioner Josh Maxwell, chairman of the county Board of Elections said mid-morning Tuesday that he had heard no complaints or issues with the voting process.
“We have hundreds of county employees, fully staffed and extra-staffed and prepared to release the results and quickly as possible,” he said. He expected at least a turnout comparable to the 80s percent who voted in 2020. “One of the candidates we have is capable of turning out a lot of people, either to support him or who don’t want to.
“And Pennsylvania is under the spotlight again this year, so that may drive turnout much higher,” Maxwell said.
Preliminary figures from the polling places will likely come sometime around midnight, but with the large number of mail-in ballots that cannot be processed until polls close, unofficial results from the county will not come before Wednesday morning. Statewide results may not be available until later in the week.
Back at the East Bradford township building, local GOP committeewomen Barb Proto and Sue Kelly were manning a Trump booth and were expectant at what the day would bring.
“This is a very exciting day and very amazing here,” said Proto. “We are looking forward to a great day.” Of Trump she said she admired “his philosophy on the family, his philosophy on women’s health, his philosophy on energy for Pennsylvania and using the natural resources that we have been given.”
“And border security is vital,” said Kelly, chiming in. “I feel good about the turnout. It’s a joyful feeling. I was at the Trump rally last week, and it was just like a big party.”
At the nearby East Bradford Elementary School precinct, meanwhile, Democratic committeewoman Gina Licciardello agreed that the turnout would be solid by the day’s end. “It’s very exciting to see so many people coming out. We are hoping a woman will make history today,” sh said of Harris, who would become the nation’s fist female president if victorious.
She admitted, however, to feeling anxious if Trump were to win. “Oh gosh yes,” she told a reporter who asked if she feared for the nation. “You are telling me. I’ve been very anxious, worrying about the future of the country. But Kamala talks about the future of the country. She positive and she’s qualified.”
Outside the East Goshen polling place, voter Hayley Cassidy declined to say who she voted for, but suggested that she did not favor the Biden-Harris Administration. “I think the country has gone in a drastically different direction in the last four years.” That had her concerned.
But on the other side, Jillian Fennelly said she had cast a ballot for Harris because she feared what rights she might lose as a gay woman if Trump was elected. “I want to protect my rights to abortion and women’s health care, as well as gay rights, my right to marry. Those are under attack.”
The voting Tuesday came a few days after an effort to have as many as 200 county voters disqualified from the election because of alleged discrepancies in their addresses was rejected by the county Board of Elections.
According to published reports, Diane Houser, a Chester County resident who told the board she was working with an “election integrity” organization, had contended that a U.S. Postal Service database showed the potential voters who had requested mail-in ballots had differing. addresses listed that placed them outside the county.
The Board of Elections officials – the three county commissioners – heard Houser’s challenges but dismissed them as being based on faulty evidence. At last one of those who received letters telling them not to vote by mail is an active duty military officer who is legally permitted to vote in the county despite living elsewhere.
Other voters the group challenged Friday included a couple who had recently moved back to West Grove after a stint living in California, a recent college graduate from Wayne currently away on a three-month trip abroad to Italy, and a 37-year-veteran of Chester County law enforcement who currently works in the District Attorney’s Office, according to reports.
Republican Commissioner Eric Roe personally vouched for one of the targeted voters.
“This woman was a mother figure to me,” he reportedly said. “I have a mother, but if I had a second one it would be her. And I can tell you she still very much resides” at her listed address.
According to the reports, again and again, Houser was confronted by the voters whose ballots she had attempted to nullify – and after each objection, she sheepishly withdrew her request. She acknowledged she had not personally vetted the eligibility of any of them.
For updated election results in Chester County visit https://pennsylvania.totalvote.com/Chester
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
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