Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
What you need to know to vote
Get ready. The 2020 general election is about to get underway in Chester County.
Local election officials, who expect a record number of people to vote by mail in the hotly contested presidential election, will be sending out the first batch of ballots to county voters by the end of the week.
Pennsylvanians have several options when it comes to voting: They can cast their ballot bymail; they can vote early by filling out a ballot at their county election office; and they can go to the polls on Election Day.
Deborah Olivieri, outgoing director of the Berks County Election Services, said Monday that Berks County already has logged more than 63,250 requests, significantly more than the 10,000 absentee ballot requests the office received in 2016.
A popular choice
Allowing Pennsylvania voters to submit their ballots by mail without an excuse is new this year. It was one of several changes included in a historic election reform bill signed into law last fall designed by state lawmakers to
increase access to the ballot box.
The introductionof widespread voting bymail in the Keystone State proved to be popular among voters in the June primary due to safety concerns amid the ongoing COVID- 19 pandemic.
In Chester County and Pennsylvania, the election marked the first time in modern history that more ballots were cast by mail than at polling locations.
The county received 50 percent of ballots by mail and recorded 48 percent of ballots that were cast on votingmachines. Those figureswere in line with what was seen at the state level with 51 percent of votes coming by mail and 47 percent votes cast in person.
Is voting by mail safe and secure?
Attacks on voting by mail, which have been made by President Donald Trump and echoed by some fellow Republicans, have stirred concern among state and local election officials who say the accusations are unfounded and damaging to the institution.
Olivieri said it’s important voters understand there’s a meticulous system of safeguards in place to ensure that ballots are legitimate.
“There are a whole bunch of safeguards in place that this office checks,” she said during a recent interview. “If wewouldget ballots that never came out of here or if we never sent a ballot to someone who returns one, we would know something was wrong right away.”
Howcan I request a mailed ballot?
Voters can apply online by visiting VotesPA. com, apply in person at the county elections office or contact the county elections office directly to request a paper application.
You will need to apply with a valid Pennsylvania identification card or supply the last four digits of your Social Security number.
What is the deadline to apply for a mailed ballot?
The current deadline is seven days before theNov. 3 election. But election officials areaskingthat voters request aballot as soonaspossible, in partbecauseof theunpredictability of the Postal Service’s delivery service.
Howdo I vote with a mailed ballot?
1. Carefully open the ballot package when you receive it in themail.
2. Make sure there is a secrecy envelope included because a mailed ballot not in a secrecy envelope, also known as a naked ballot, will not be counted.
3. Fill out the ballot immediately.
4. Place your ballot in the secrecy envelope, then put the secrecy envelope into the official envelope. Be sure to sign the declaration or your ballot may not count.
5. Mail your ballot so it arrives at the county elections office by ElectionDay.
What if I don’t get my mailed ballot?
No problem. You can go to your assigned polling place and vote in- person by filling out a provisional ballot if you have not received your mailed ballot.
What if I signed up for a mailed ballot but want to vote at the polls?
If you misplaced your mailed ballot or have decided to cast your ballot at the polls, you still have an opportunity to vote.
Go to your assigned polling place. If you have the mailed ballot, you will need to surrender the ballot to the judge of elections to be voided in order to vote on the voting machines. If you misplaced the mailed ballot, you will need to tell the judge of elections and they will give you a provisional ballot to fill out.