One week from the presidential election, more than half of the 3 million voters in Pennsylvania who applied for a mail-in ballot have returned them, state officials said Tuesday.
But that leaves about 1.1 million whose ballots still haven’t been received by county elections offices, and to those Pennsylvanians — and to those who applied before Tuesday’s deadline -— Gov. Tom Wolf has a message: “Don’t wait.”
“Hand-deliver your vote ballot at a secure drop box or at the county board of elections,” Mr. Wolf said at a news conference Tuesday, noting that physically “[walking your ballot] to the place where you can turn it in” can avoid any uncertainty about whether the ballot will count.
For those who have already applied for a mail-in ballot, they’re still able to hand-deliver them — filled out and completed — until 8 p.m. on Election Day in-person to their county elections office. In Allegheny County, ballots can be dropped off every day in the main lobby of 542 Forbes Ave. in downtown Pittsburgh from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through next Monday, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day next Tuesday — or upstairs in the elections office on the sixth floor from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, next Monday and next Tuesday.
Counties are permitted to tally ballots they receive by mail in the three days following the Nov. 3 election, as long as they were postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
But with the possibility of the U.S. Supreme Court taking up the case of the three-day extension in the coming days, state officials are urging voters that the best way they can ensure their ballots are counted is to return them in person, and to do it now.
"Just drop it off. We all know there’s mail delays. There’s no question. So avoid it,” Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said. “I don’t want any voter thinking about what a court is or isn't going to do.”
With Republicans seeking an expedited decision in the Supreme Court that recently split 4-4 on the matter and kept the deadline in place, Mr. Wolf said he believes the state will “know by Thursday or Friday as to where that stands.”
“I think all that uncertainty is all the more reason to walk it in [and] get it in on time,” Mr. Wolf said.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1952, Twitter @julianrouth.
The most important thing for voters to do at this point to ensure their vote counts is to ‘Bring It!,’ either to the drop box at the County Office Building or to their regular polling location on Election Day. pic.twitter.com/SzSv0HrBG3
— Controller Wagner (@AC_Controller) October 27, 2020
First Published: October 27, 2020, 4:45 p.m.