How do I know my mail-in ballot has been counted? What you need to know prior to Election Day
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - There has been a lot of information out there about the integrity of the election and voters are looking for reassurance.
With all indications pointing toward an excruciatingly close election, voters want to know their vote is going to count and that begs the question - what happens to my ballot after it goes in the mailbox and the county gets it?
"We are not legally allowed to open ballots until Election Day, so it's going to get scanned into the system," said Abigail Gardner with Allegheny County. "Everything looks good to go. No reason to return this to the voter. We scan it. It's sitting in the warehouse under lock and key. We have security there, 24/7 we have more cameras than the casino making sure nothing happens to these precious ballots."
This leads to the question - how do I know the county got my ballot?
"If we don't see any errors, if we see the yellow, you signed it, you dated it, we will scan it, and we'll put it in the system," Gardner said. "If you gave us an email when you requested your ballot, you'll receive an email saying your ballot has been received. It's confirmed."
If you didn't give the county an email address, Gardner said after two to three days after putting your ballot in the mail, go to the website VotesPA.com and look up your registration. There, you'll be able to see the status of your ballot.
"On Election Day, we will have over 200 county employees sitting at six-foot tables opening all of the mail-in ballots," she said.
Gardner said they'll start processing and counting the votes by mid-afternoon.
"We're not allowed to post the results until after the polls close, so nothing will be posted until 8 p.m.," she explained.
Assuming everything goes to plan, she said the mail-in votes will be tallied sometime early election night.
Now, if you have no record if your mail-in ballot being received Gardner said to give them, again two to three days to receive it, scan it into the system, and then if it still isn't showing, call the Allegheny County Elections Office at 412-350-4500.
