Pennsylvania Voters Urged to Use Secrecy Envelopes as Mail Ballot Deadline Nears

PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania voters who want to cast a ballot by mail have until 5 p.m. on Oct. 27 to apply, and state election officials are urging them to follow one rule above all others. Use the secrecy envelope.

Every mail ballot in Pennsylvania comes with two envelopes. The ballot goes inside the smaller secrecy envelope first. That sealed envelope goes inside the larger outer return envelope, and the voter signs and dates the declaration printed on the outside. A ballot returned without the secrecy envelope, known as a naked ballot, will not be counted.

Voters can return completed ballots by mail, but officials recommend sending them several days before Election Day. Ballots can also be delivered directly to a county election office or placed in a designated drop box where the county offers them. Completed ballots must be received by the county office no later than 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. A postmark by the deadline is not enough.

Voters who provide an email address on the ballot application will get updates from the county when the ballot is received and whether any problem could keep it from being counted. Ballots can also be tracked online through the state’s voter services site.

Anyone who misses the Oct. 27 application deadline still has one option. Voters who face an unexpected emergency that keeps them from the polls can apply for an emergency absentee ballot at any point before 8 p.m. on Election Day.

A voter who requested a mail ballot but later decides to vote in person can surrender the ballot and its envelopes at the polling place and vote normally. Those who requested one but no longer have it can cast a provisional ballot instead.

Through Oct. 27, voters can also apply for a mail ballot, fill it out and return it in a single visit to their county election office. County hours and ballot availability vary, so voters should check ahead.

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 general election is Oct. 19, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.