Does Pennsylvania have early voting in 2024? Sort of. Here's what to know.
You don't have to wait for Election Day to cast your ballot in Pennsylvania. If you want to beat the crowds at the polling place, or just get first dibs on an "I Voted" sticker, Pennsylvania has a form of early voting. Here's how you can do it and what you need to know.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, every county in the commonwealth will be offering "over-the-counter" voting, the state's closest thing to early voting, in the 2024 general election.
This process has also been called mail ballot voting "on demand."
It works like this:
● you request a mail-in ballot in person at a county elections office
● receive and complete it onsite
● return it to a drop box, all in the same trip
When and where can I vote early in Pennsylvania?
If you want to vote according to the process above, just head to your county elections office once mail-in ballots are available.
A list on the Pennsylvania Department of State's website, linked here, tracks which counties have ballots available.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 8, 43 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties have mail ballots available.
You can only vote on demand at your county elections office while the office is open, so make sure you're aware of the hours and locations of Pennsylvania county elections offices.
The commonwealth keeps a master list of all 67 counties' election office addresses, phone numbers and websites at the link above.
Where are the voting machines?
There's not going to be a voting machine set up for you early voters – if you've seen elsewhere that Pennsylvania has "early voting," those resources were referring to this hybrid method involving filling out mail ballots in person.
If you want to vote on a voting machine, you'll have to cast your ballot on Election Day.
When is the deadline to vote early?
The last possible day to vote early on demand is Oct. 29, 2024 – this is also the deadline to request your mail-in ballot.
How to cure your mail-in ballot if you filled it out wrong
The Philadelphia City Commissioners has published a list of voters whose mail-in ballots have issues. You should check out the list linked at this page on Phila.gov to determine if there is an issue - it will be listed next to your name. Or click here for the full list - in alphabetical order by first name.
On a desktop computer, you can quickly search for your name by opening the list, pressing the CTRL + F keys and then typing into the text box. On mobile browsers, you can press the share button or expanded menu button (on Google Chrome, this looks like 3 dots ...) and look for the "find in page" option.
If your name appears on the lists above, you should either complete an online request form for a replacement ballot, visit a satellite elections office, or cast a provisional ballot at your polling place on Election Day.
