BETHLEHEM, Pa. – State voters have until Tuesday to request their mail-in ballot ahead of the November election.
As of Friday morning, 1.2 million Pennsylvania residents have been approved for a mail-in ballot. Nearly 772,000 of those have already been returned, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
But there's still time for those figures to climb further. Registered voters can request a mail-in ballot until 5 p.m. Tuesday either online or at their county local elections office.
Voters who request a mail-in ballot in person have the option to fill it out and turn it in during the same trip. The process, known as on-demand voting, has grown popular in recent years among voters who are uncomfortable with the U.S. Postal Service's delivery times or the use of drop boxes.
All mail-in ballots must be turned in to their county elections office or a county-approved drop box by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3 or they will not be counted. Voters who have not sent their ballots by Wednesday, Oct. 28 may want to consider using a drop box to ensure it arrives on time.
Lehigh County will have 10 drop box locations available in the closing days of the election, six of which will be available 24 hours a day. Northampton County has 10 drop box locations set up, but only the one at the Northampton County 911 Center in Upper Nazareth Township is available 24 hours a day.
Since President Donald Trump leveled baseless attacks against the integrity of mail-in voting in the 2020 election cycle, registered Democrats have dominated mail-in ballot participation in Pennsylvania. This year, Democrats make up more than 64% of approved mail-in ballot voters statewide. By comparison, Republicans account for 24.3% of mail-in ballot requests this year.
Republican strategists say the hesitancy among their voters to adopt mail-in voting has placed their candidates at a disadvantage. The process allows voters a larger window to turn in their ballots and narrows the pool of voters campaign workers need to reach on Election Day.
Mail-in ballot stats as of Friday, Oct. 23
Pennsylvania
Democratic requests: 810,669
Republican requests: 305,519
Other requests: 137,932
Percentage of registered voters requesting a ballot: 13.8%
Lehigh County
Democratic requests: 25,108
Republican requests: 9,701
Other requests: 4,726
Percentage of registered voters requesting a mail-in ballot: 15.4%
Northampton County
Democratic requests: 25,177
Republican requests: 9,323
Other requests: 5,156
Percentage of registered voters requesting a mail-in ballot: 16.9%