PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania’s primary election is just three weeks away, and if you’re voting by mail, election officials want you to know there are lots of ways to get those mail-in ballots turned in.
Philadelphia City Commissioners sent out 73,000 mail-in ballots last Wednesday, so if you requested one, you should have gotten it over the weekend. You can request one up until 5 p.m. on May 12, and you have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to return it.
“That’s the technical deadline, but the intelligent deadline is to do it right now,” said Commissioner Chair Omar Sabir. He recommended returning ballots to one of the commission’s 11 satellite offices to avoid post office delays.
Equally as important: Carefully follow all instructions. The ballot must go into the yellow security envelope first, then the return envelope. And, the return envelope has to be signed and dated.
Satellite office staff can review the steps with you. The offices are open seven days a week.
Commissioner Seth Bluestein vouched for voting security.
“Prior to every election, we conduct logic and accuracy testing on all the equipment that we have to make sure they are tabulating the votes accurately, and after the election, we conduct not one but two audits on the ballots to make sure the results are correct,” he said.
Commissioner Lisa Deeley said she’s proud of the measures the commission has taken to make voting accessible; now, it’s up to voters.
“It’s not just about May 19. It’s about today and our future,” she said.
The deadline to register to vote is May 4. For a list of satellite election offices in Philadelphia, visit vote.phila.gov/ballot-drop-off.
Philadelphia City Commissioners say you should return your mail ballot sooner than later
Philadelphia City Commissioners say you should return your mail ballot sooner than later
