Requested a mail-in ballot, but want to vote in person? It’s not as simple as just showing up

PITTSBURGH — The country is just two weeks from Election Day, and nearly 3 million Pennsylvanians have requested mail-in ballots.

What do you need to do if you requested one but now want to vote in person? It’s not as simple as just showing up at your polling location.

“My number one concern is definitely all of the folks who requested a mail-in ballot who are now changing their minds and deciding to go to the polls on Election Day and try to vote in person,” said Bethany Hallam, Allegheny County Councilwoman-At-Large, who also serves on the Elections Division. “I have been hearing from a scary amount of voters who have said, ‘I decided i don’t want to vote by mail, I want to vote in person,’ so I’m sure a lot of voters are planning on doing this. I am also sure the majority of those voters don’t know the correct process to make sure they are voting in person.”

To do so in the easiest way, Hallam says to make sure you bring your entire mail-in ballot packet with you.

“You have to bring the entire contents of your mail-in ballot to your poll with you,” she said, “your ballot and both envelopes that you received in the mail.”

If you don’t bring it, you’ll have to fill out a provisional ballot, which is an affidavit declaring that you haven’t voted by using any other method.

That is what you’ll have to do if you haven’t received your mail-in ballot by Election Day.

“The way the provisional ballots work, they are not counted until after Election Day ... so for everyone who is so excited to get results ASAP, the provisional ballot will hold that process up a little bit,” Hallam said.

The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is Oct. 27, and it must be postmarked by Election Day.

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