PENNSYLVANIA — Today is the deadline to apply for a mail ballot for the May 18 primary and the state has now created a one-stop site for voters.
At votesPA.com, citizens can:
- Confirm their voter registration status.
- Locate their polling place and get directions.
- View a demonstration video of the voting system used in each county.
- Find contact information for each county election office.
- Apply for a mail ballot until 5 p.m. today.
- File a complaint if they encounter any difficulty or questionable situation at the polling place.
Veronica Degraffenreid, acting secretary of the commonwealth, said more than 743,700 registered Pennsylvania voters already have applied for a mail-in ballot and more than 63,200 voters have applied for an absentee ballot.
Pennsylvanians voting by mail-in or absentee ballot should return their voted ballot as soon as possible, delivering it in person to their county election board. Check votespa.com/county to find ballot drop-off locations and hours for your county. The deadline for county election boards to receive voted mail ballots is 8 p.m. on May 18, Election Day. Postmarks do not count.
Today also is the last day to vote early in person by mail ballot. Voters can visit their county election office before 5 p.m. and apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot. County election officials will check their eligibility while they wait and, once verified, will provide them with the ballot. Voters can then complete their ballot and cast it all in one visit.
Before making the trip to vote in person by mail ballot, voters should check the hours of their county’s election office, Degraffenreid said. A list of satellite voting locations designated by county election boards is being updated as information is made available.
Voters who have not voted by mail ballot can vote in person at their polling place on Election Day. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 18.
On May 18, voters who are registered as Republican or Democrat will choose their parties’ nominees for seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court, Commonwealth Court, county Common Pleas Courts, and Philadelphia Municipal Court.
Also on the party ballots will be a wide variety of county, school board, and local seats such as mayor, city or borough council member, township commissioner or supervisor, magisterial district judges, and precinct election officials.
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All registered voters, regardless of party affiliation, will be eligible to vote on four ballot questions.
Three of the questions are proposed constitutional amendments, and the fourth question is a referendum on making municipal fire departments or companies with paid personnel and emergency medical services companies eligible for an existing state loan program.
In addition, all registered voters in the following four districts, regardless of party affiliation, will be voting in special elections to fill vacancies:
- 22nd State Senate District (Lackawanna County and parts of Luzerne and Monroe counties)
- 48th State Senate District (Lebanon County and parts of Dauphin and York counties)
- 59th State House District (parts of Somerset and Westmoreland counties)
- 60th State House District (parts of Armstrong, Butler, and Indiana counties)
Degraffenreid said registered voters that they have the right to cast a provisional ballot at the polling place if they believe they are registered at the precinct but are not listed in the poll book or supplemental poll book. Provisional ballots will be reviewed by county officials within seven days after the election to determine whether the voter was eligible.
Voters appearing at a polling place for the first time will need to show proper identification, which may be either photo or non-photo ID. There is no identification requirement for voters returning to vote at a polling place for the second or subsequent election.
For complete information about voting in Pennsylvania, visit votesPA.com or call 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772).