Mail ballots begin arriving ahead of Nov. 3 election
1M voters approved to vote by mail; Mifflin among counties sending ballots
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LEWISTOWN -- More than 986,000 Pennsylvania voters have been approved to vote by mail in the Nov. 3 general election, with Mifflin County among more than 20 counties that have sent ballots, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said Tuesday.
Schmidt said during the Department of State's third weekly pre-election media briefing that the approved applications represent about 95% of all applications received statewide. A small number of counties had been delayed while candidate nomination litigation was resolved, he said, but those cases have concluded.
As of Tuesday, the Department of State's mail-ballot availability page listed Mifflin and Snyder counties among those that had mailed ballots. Centre, Huntingdon and Juniata counties were listed as preparing to mail ballots soon. Snyder County also was offering on-demand mail-ballot voting. The option was not yet available in Mifflin, Juniata, Huntingdon or Centre counties.
On-demand voting allows registered voters to apply for, receive, complete and return a mail ballot during one visit to a county election office or another designated location once ballots are available.
Schmidt said the department has released a new toolkit that includes a streamlined mail-ballot application for voters choosing that option. The application includes a declaration that the voter wants the ballot provided at the county office and gives election officials space to make notes based on county procedures.
The department also issued revised guidance last week covering mail ballots, provisional ballots and electronic voting systems.
"The revisions made to the guidance this time generally include clarifications, not any new rules or procedures," Schmidt said.
The electronic voting system directive removed an outdated attachment involving straight-ticket voting, which Pennsylvania hasn't used since 2019. Mail-ballot guidance clarified county obligations involving the application deadline. Provisional-ballot guidance addressed how counties must notify voters whose provisional ballots are challenged and give them an opportunity to be heard.
Schmidt also pointed to previous changes that he said have reduced ballot rejections caused by voter errors.
Two years ago, the department and county election officials redesigned Pennsylvania's mail-ballot envelopes. The state also required counties to preprint the full year on return envelopes and conducted a voter-education campaign. Schmidt said those changes helped reduce rejected mail ballots by nearly 60% compared with the previous election.
The department later worked with counties to redesign provisional-ballot envelopes to make required fields clearer and draw attention to the two places voters must sign. Schmidt said provisional-ballot rejections caused by voter errors also declined after the changes.
Schmidt said the department remains focused on helping county election offices recruit poll workers and train election staff.
Pennsylvania counties need more than 45,000 poll workers to staff more than 9,000 polling places on Election Day. The department is also providing training and support for county election staff, including new directors preparing for their first general election.
Schmidt, who served for 10 years as a county election commissioner, said Pennsylvania elections remain primarily a county responsibility.
"In Pennsylvania, it's at the county level where elections are run, closest to home," Schmidt said.
Schmidt said the weekly briefings will continue leading up to the Nov. 3 election.
Pennsylvania residents have until Oct. 19 to register to vote in the general election. Applications for mail-in or absentee ballots must be received by county election offices by 5 p.m. Oct. 27.
Completed mail ballots must be received by county election offices by 8 p.m. Nov. 3. A postmark by Election Day isn't enough; county election offices must receive the ballot by the deadline. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.