PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — If you applied for a mail-in ballot, you may have received multiple postcards explaining how to properly turn it in. That's part of an education effort to ensure mail-in ballots are properly "clothed."
"There are a lot of resources being put together to educate people about the mail in ballots right now," said Pat Christmas, policy director of the nonprofit Committee of Seventy.
Christmas said ballot packets include the ballot itself, an instruction card, any ballot questions and two envelopes. One is the return envelope.
"This is the envelope that has the voter's name, a barcode and then also a declaration on the back that the voter has to fill out, sign and date," he explained.
The other is the secrecy envelope, which is critical since the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled ballots turned in without them, also called naked ballots, do not count. He said voters must also fill out the ballot correctly. If you make a mistake, go to a county satellite office.
"You have an opportunity to get a replacement ballot at one of those options," said Christmas.
If you don't mail back your ballot at least a week before the election, he recommended dropping it off at an election office. More information can be found at the state's election website.
