PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The election is one week away and if voters want to apply for a mail-in ballot, they need to get it done by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Philadelphia City Commissioner Omar Sabir was outside the Olney Transportation Center to get the word out about the deadline.
He said mail-in ballot applications can be done at home or the office by going to pavoterservice.pa.gov. Once completed and submitted, voters may not get the ballot in the mail until the end of the week or even next Monday, the day before Election Day.
“By the time you get the ballot, be prepared to bring the ballot to one of our Eagles green drop box locations that are open all across the city of Philadelphia,” said Sabir.
If voters prefer to get a mail-in ballot in their hands on deadline day, he said they can go to the city elections office at City Hall or one of the many satellite offices set up around Philadelphia. At these locations, voters can apply for the ballot, get it, fill it out, and submit it immediately, but Sabir warned that there will likely be long lines today.
Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said on Monday that the counties received and approved around 2 million mail-in ballot applications. About 1.4 million, or almost 70%, have been returned.
The deadline to return mail ballots is 8 p.m. on Election Day in Pennsylvania.
Monday is also the deadline to apply by mail to get a mail-in ballot for New Jersey residents. However, residents can go in-person to a county elections office up until 3 p.m. the day before the election to apply.