Under new deadline, thousands of absentee ballots arrive in Montco

About 72 percent of the absentee ballots issued in Montgomery County had been completed and returned by Monday afternoon, officials said, including more than 4,000 that arrived after a judge extended the deadline late last week.

Of the 29,541 ballots issued this year, 21,500 have been returned, according to county spokeswoman Lorie Slass.

That's an increase from the 17,341 received by Friday afternoon, and came after a weekend when the county opened its offices to accept ballots.

An unexpectedly low return rate and a surge of complaints from voters and officials in both major political parties led Senior Judge Bernard A. Moore on Thursday to extend by four days the deadline for returning absentee ballots.

The reason for the absentee ballot issues in Montgomery County has remained a matter of debate, with various officials pointing to a delay in printing ballots, a high volume of applications, problems with the Postal Service, or the recent resignation of the top officials in the voter services department.

In 2012, Montgomery County officials said they issued more than 25,000 absentee ballots. Of those, 20,970 were returned - a return rate of 82 percent.

Representatives from both major political parties on Monday said they continued to hear complaints from voters who had not received absentee ballots.

"We kind of still live in a vacuum. ... We don't really hear when people are doing well, we hear when people are not doing well," said Josh Arnold, executive director of the Montgomery County Republican Committee. "Having said that, I've gotten several calls still today about people haven't received them."

Joe Foster, chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee, said his party also has continued to get complaints.

"We have a few more calls coming in, people haven't received their ballots, but we also have calls from people for whom it's been resolved," Foster said.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, absentee ballots had to be returned by 5 p.m. Friday.

Montgomery County will accept ballots by mail through Tuesday.

lmccrystal@phillynews.com 610-313-8116 @LMcCrystal