What is on-demand mail ballot voting?

While Pennsylvania does not allow early voting as it exists in some other states, voters do have an opportunity between now and Oct. 27 to cast ballots in-person before election day.

According to the state’s top election official, the process is something he fields “a lot of questions about.”

“When you hear about early voting in Pennsylvania, or on-demand voting, or over-the-counter voting or anything like that, what they mean is voting by mail ballot in person at a board of elections office in your county,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said. “It’s important to clarify this so that voters have the right set of expectations when showing up at a board of elections office. They won’t be voting the same way they would at their polling place on election day.” 

On-demand mail ballot voting allows eligible Pennsylvania voters to request a mail ballot application and fill it out at their local elections office. County election staff can process the application and give the voter a ballot on the spot, which they can fill out and return in the same visit.

Currently, every county but Beaver and Fulton has mail ballots available at their election office for people who wish to vote this way, according to the Department of State.

Voters can check with the Department of State’s website for more information on mail ballot availability in their county. They can also check with their local election officials for more information on where and when the service is available.

“I’d like to ask that voters be patient with their county board of election staff when choosing this option,” Schmidt said. “Check to make sure the county has this option available when showing up during the business hours they have for this.”

On-demand mail ballot voting is available until the deadline to apply for a mail ballot at 5 p.m. on Oct. 27.

The last day for eligible Pennsylvanians to register to vote is Monday, Oct. 19.

“While [on-demand mail ballot voting] might seem new to voters it actually isn’t,” Schmidt said. 

The practice predates Pennsylvania’s 2019 law that allowed for no-excuse mail ballot voting. Before that, voters who would not be able to visit the polls on election day could request an absentee ballot at their county election office, fill it out in person and return it in one visit through the same process. But, the volume of ballots cast this way was generally smaller.

According to Schmidt, as of Wednesday morning, more than 7,000 people have cast ballots through on-demand mail ballot voting.

Roughly 1,134,000 mail ballot applications have been approved across Pennsylvania, and around one-third of them have already been returned.

All mail ballots must be received by county election offices by 8 p.m. on election day, regardless of whether they’re returned in person, at a drop box or by mail. 

Those planning to send their ballots through the postal service should allow as much time as possible before election day.

All mail ballots, regardless of whether they’re cast in person, are counted the same way.

“The law is the same, the rules are the same and the process for counting them is the same,” Schmidt said. 

In Pennsylvania, election workers are only allowed to begin a process called pre-canvassing — preparing mail ballots to be counted —  at 7 a.m. on election day. Depending on the amount of mail ballots received, that means results can be delayed in some counties.