Civic News

Voting in Pennsylvania: How to vote by mail or cast an in-person ballot at the polls

A guide to participating in the Nov. 2, 2021 general election in Pennsylvania.

You go, TechGirlz. (GIF via YouTube)

Monday, Oct. 18, is the last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania for the Nov. 2, 2021 general election.

While it’s an “off” year for members of Congress and a presidential election, Pennsylvanians will have a host of positions and issues on their ballots this year.

You may register to vote through midnight today at PAVoterServices.PA/gov. If you’re 18 or older, a U.S. citizen and have lived in Pennsylvania for at least 30 days, you are eligible. A few things to keep in mind:

Vote by mail

All Pennsylvania voters can now vote by mail, for any reason. If you plan to vote by mail, you may apply for a mail-in ballot through Oct. 26 at 5 p.m., and your filled-in ballot must be must be received by your county election office by Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. If you plan on dropping it in the mailbox, give yourself about a week of headway before that Nov. 2 deadline, officials said last year.

In all 67 counties, a voter can return their own ballot to a local election office in person (find the address here). Some counties have set up satellite offices and drop boxes, which you can find here. If you did not return your mail-in ballot and instead want to vote in-person, you have two options, PA.gov says:

“Bring your ballot and the pre-addressed outer return envelope to your polling place to be voided. After you surrender your ballot and envelope and sign a declaration, you can then vote with a regular ballot. If you don’t surrender your ballot and return envelope, you can only vote by provisional ballot at your polling place. Your county election board will then verify that you did not vote by mail before counting your provisional ballot.”

Vote in person at the polls

Polls will be open Tuesday, Nov. 2 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you plan on heading to vote in person this year, here’s what you’ll need. Be sure you know where your polling location is (check here), bring a snack or a drink in case you’re waiting for a while, and remember to bring some form of ID if it is your first time voting at that polling place. While you’re voting, know your rights:

  • If the polls close while you’re still in line, stay in line — you have the right to vote.
  • If you make a mistake on your ballot, ask for a new one.
  • If the machines are down at your polling place, ask for a paper ballot.

For help or questions, you can call the ACLU’s nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-687-8683 for English and 1-888-839-8682 for Spanish.

If you are told your name is not in the list of registered voters, you should request a provisional ballot.

What’s on the ballot?

Pennsylvanians will have a slew of judge appointments to vote on this year, including judges to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Superior Court of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Court and the PA Court of Common Pleas. Philadelphians will be prompted to vote for the district attorney and city controller, as well as four ballot questions concerning changes to the City charter. The questions include some hot-button issues, like a vote on cannabis legalization and approving annual appropriation for the Housing Trust Fund.

The Philadelphia Citizen offers a comprehensive voter’s guide with everything Philly voters will see on their ballots. Ballotpedia will show any voter who will be on their ballot at the address they’re registered.

Companies: City of Philadelphia / State of Pennsylvania

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

19 tech and entrepreneurship events to check out before the holidays

Are digital navigators the answer to closing Philadelphia’s tech gap?

EDA officials are ‘hopeful’ Tech Hubs program will live on under Trump

AI is being used in more and more of the hiring process, especially at high-volume companies

Technically Media