Centre County voters should receive mail-in ballots soon. How to make sure yours is counted
More than 2 million Pennsylvanians have applied for mail-in and absentee ballots, and 60 counties have sent their ballots in the mail stream and worked for months to implement election security measures.
But in order for every ballot to be counted, voters must follow directions when casting their vote by mail or absentee.
Centre County registered voters who applied to cast their ballots by mail — more than 20,000 — should start receiving them this week, if they haven’t already. Of the ballots that have been sent out, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said 20% have already been returned to county election and satellite offices.
Despite misinformation circulating about the mail and electoral system, Boockvar said she is confident in Pennsylvania’s voting system because of well-trained poll workers, elections office staff, secure ballot drop boxes and upgrades to voting machines across the state.
“We look at election security across the board in every realm, and I’m so proud of the partners that we work with at the federal, state and local level to make sure that every voter in Pennsylvania can have tremendous confidence,” she said during a press conference Wednesday.
Boockvar said some ballot tracking information might be inaccurate, but the Department of State is working with counties to fix any wrong timestamps.
Here’s what to do before submitting your mail-in ballot:
What is a naked ballot?
Pennsylvania is the first state to disqualify “naked ballots,” a ballot that has been cast without a sealed security envelope.
When voters receive their ballots in the mail, two envelopes will be included — a secrecy envelope and an outer envelope.
In order for mail-in and absentee ballots to be counted, voters must make sure they seal their ballot in the white inner secrecy envelope that indicates “official” ballot. Then, voters must place the secrecy envelope in the pre-addressed outer return envelope where voters must sign their name.
If the outer return envelope does not include the voter’s signature, the ballot will not be counted.
How to return ballots
Under Pennsylvania law, voters must return their own ballots unless an exemption is granted for those with a disability who have designated someone in writing to deliver their ballot.
Ballots may be returned by mail, hand-delivered to the local county elections office by 8 p.m. on Election Day or to an official satellite elections office. Centre County also has eight secure ballot drop boxes stationed throughout the county. The boxes are monitored by video surveillance and include structural security measures to prevent tampering.
Secure ballot drop boxes may be found at the following locations:
- Willowbank Building, 420 Holmes St. in Bellefonte
Patton Township Municipal Building, 100 Patton Plaza
Ferguson Township Municipal Building, 3147 Research Drive
State College Municipal Building, 243 S. Allen St.
Spring Township Municipal Building, 1309 Blanchard St.
Magisterial District Office 49-3-03, 118 Enterprise Drive in Philipsburg
Magisterial District Office 49-3-04, 2795 Earlystown Road in Centre Hall
HUB-Robeson Center, on the Penn State campus
Ballots must be returned to the county elections office or a drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
The Supreme Court ruled to extend the deadline to receive ballots until three days after the election, but ballots must be put in the mail by Nov. 3. If a ballot is returned with a postmark after Election Day, it will not be counted.
What to do if you want to vote in-person
If an individual applied for a mail-in ballot but wants to vote in-person, Boockvar said they will be allowed as long as the ballot has not been cast.
Voters who want to vote at the polls are asked to hold on to their mail-in ballot and bring it with them on Election Day. Poll workers will ask the voter to sign a declaration, saying they did not yet vote, and the mail-in ballot will be surrendered on-site.
If an individual loses or forgets their mail-in ballot, they may vote by provisional ballot on Election Day.
The final day to register to vote is Monday, and the deadline to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is 5 p.m. Oct. 27.
