If you're voting by mail in next week's election, but haven't returned your ballot, you may be cutting it close.
The state is asking those voters not to risk it - and should now consider hand delivering them ASAP. Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman says there's no guarantee if you put it in the mail now.
“Voters who have not yet returned their ballot, I say, hand deliver your mail ballot now to your county election office or authorized drop off location to be certain your vote will be counted,” said Chapman. “Do not wait until the last minute.”
Voters who requested a mail ballot have several options for hand-delivering their voted ballot. They can:
Drop it off at their county election office.
Find out if their county has a drop box. If so, they can deliver their ballot there.
Find out if their county has a satellite election office where they can drop off their ballot.
She says over 500,000 voters who received mail-in ballots haven't returned them. Tuesday is also the last day to apply for one.
State elections officials are also clearing the air on claims Pennsylvania sent mail-in ballots to unverified voters.
Last week, a group of Republican state lawmakers called for clarity on what they believe were over 240,000 ballots sent to unverified voters.
Chapman called it a false narrative. She said not verified is a state system designation, indicating a voter's information is going through additional verification.
“There is no such thing as an unverified ballot,” said Chapman. “Here are the facts, the Pennsylvania election code requires counties to require proof of identification at the time they apply for their mail ballot or anytime, up to six days after the election.”