Here's how to get prepared for upcoming midterm elections
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The midterm elections are less than three weeks away and CBS3 talked to election officials on how to get you prepared to vote whether by mail, or in person.
"With an open seat for the U.S Senate and open seat for governor in Pennsylvania, I would expect turnout to be pretty high," Al Schmidt, of the Committee of Seventy, said, "probably north of 50 percent, which is pretty high for a city this size."
Schmidt, the president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, a watchdog organization that looks to ensure election access and integrity in Philadelphia, says they're expecting an onslaught of mail-in ballots this election cycle.
"Pennsylvania used mail-in ballot voting for the first time in 2020. So we went from about none of our voters voting by mail to about half of our voters voting by mail," Schmidt said. "as we've seen in each election since 2020, that number has settled down closer to where it would normally be."
Just over 130,000 mail-in ballots have already gone out in Philadelphia. Election officials say don't wait to request a ballot because you'll want to get them back in the mail, in a timely fashion, before Election Day on Nov. 8.
"You can still register to vote. The sooner you do it, the better," Schmidt said.
CBS3 spoke with senior CBS News political correspondent, Major Garrett, about the upcoming midterm elections, and how and why mail-in ballots could take more time to process, meaning in a close race we may not know the winner on election night.
"Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan are three states where there will be a good portion of mail-in ballots," Garret said. "Those three states, because of decisions made by the legislature, do not allow county and local election officials to pre-process those ballots, meaning the can't be touched until Election Day. That inevitably slows down the counting, then tabulating of those election results."
Voters have until Nov. 1 to request a mail-in ballot. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 24 for Pennsylvania voters.