Deadline to Request Mail Ballots for November Election in Pa. Is Tuesday

Voters who wish to request a mail ballot for the Nov. 5 election in Pennsylvania and haven’t done so already are running out of time.

Mail and civilian absentee ballot applications must be received by county elections offices by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

Applications can be requested online or in person before the deadline. In Centre County registered voters may request a ballot at the Centre County Elections Office at the Willowbank Building, 420 Holmes Street in Bellefonte, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, or at the West College Avenue Satellite Elections Office in the Kunkle Activities Center at Penn State’s Hammond Building (near corner of College Avenue and South Allen Street) between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Pennsylvania does not have “early voting” but voters who request a ballot in person at the Centre County Elections Office and Satellite Elections Office before the deadline may also complete it and return it on site.

After Tuesday’s deadline, Centre County voters casting mail ballots have three options:

• Send it by mail. It must be received by the elections office by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

• Return it to one of eight secure drop box locations around the county before 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 4. Drop boxes will be closed after that time.

• Return it in person to the county elections office in Bellefonte by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. The elections office is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and will be open until 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Voters who have already returned a mail ballot can check its status at pavoterservices.pa.gov/Pages/BallotTracking.aspx.

Elections offices are not permitted to begin precanvassing — opening, inspecting and preparing mail ballots for processing— until 7 a.m. on Election Day and cannot begin generating vote totals until 8 p.m.

The voter registration deadline has already passed. To check your status, visit pavoterservices.pa.gov.

For those voting in person on Election Day, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Registered voters who are in line at 8 p.m. must be permitted to cast their ballots. Find your polling location at pavoterservices.pa.gov/Pages/PollingPlaceInfo.aspx