Voting bymail — step by step instructions

At this point Chester County and many other counties throughout Pennsylvania have already mailed their mailin ballots for those voters who have requested them. You might have requested a mail-in ballot through the internet ormaybe during the last voting cycle in the Pennsylvania Primary

Election when you checked off the box stating you wanted to continue to receivemail-in ballots. There is a good chance you have already received it. However, at any time if you want to check the status of your ballot for the upcoming election you can go to www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/BallotTracking.

One more point, if you have not yet requested a mail-in ballot but want to do so, you should act quickly. You want to leave enough time to have received the ballot from Voter Services and gotten it back there properly signed, no later than Nov. 3. This is no time for delay.

The traditional way of voting at the polls on election day is still available but be prepared to wait in line for some time.

So, assuming you have your mail-in ballot, what now? Here are step by step instructions you can follow to assist.

Actions to take now

• First, open the envelope you received. Take out the ballot and the two enclosed envelopes. One will be the return envelope to Voter Services already addressed (the return envelope). In Chester County, postage is already taken care of. Check this, though, if you are a voter in another county. You will be writing on the return envelope so put it aside for the moment.

• The other enclosed envelope, (the privacy envelope), states “Official Election Ballot”