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Early in-person voting will not start in Pennsylvania next week, despite what several national media outlets have reported this month.
On Thursday, The New York Times wrote that on Sept. 16 “Pennsylvania starts in-person early voting and begins sending mail-in ballots” to voters. USA Today reported on Tuesday that “early voting for some counties” in Pennsylvania would begin Monday. And Fox News reported on Sept. 3 that “early voting begins on Sept. 16 in Pennsylvania.”
Those reports may create misunderstandings about how Pennsylvania’s voting works, election officials say, and they ignore the fact that ballots are being delayed by ongoing court cases.
“We have been hearing from voters and other entities that ballots will be going out on Monday, September 16. That is not accurate,” Cumberland County Elections Director Bethany Salzarulo said in a statement. “Historically mail-in and absentee ballots are sent out three to four weeks prior to any election, and we are on track to do the same for the upcoming presidential election.”
Pennsylvania has a voting option that’s similar to what other states call early in-person voting — typically offered at convenient early-voting polling sites — but it’s not exactly the same, and it won’t be available next week.
Pennsylvania refers to this option as voting in person by mail ballot, and it’s meant to be available before Election Day. With this option, voters can visit their county elections office, apply for a mail ballot, fill it out, and return it on the spot.
Sept. 16 is the day by which counties must start processing mail ballot applications — the forms for requesting a mail ballot. If the ballots themselves were ready that day, then theoretically voters could request one and return it in one visit to the county office.
But the ballots won’t be available by Sept. 16.
That’s because the finalization of ballots for November’s election is currently being delayed by cases before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dealing with third-party candidates’ access to the ballot. There are currently four cases involving three slates of presidential and vice presidential candidates. (Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not one of them.) All cases are currently awaiting rulings from the court.
Those challenges need to be resolved before the list of candidates can be certified by the Secretary of the Commonwealth and counties can print ballots.
[Update, Sept. 16, 3:55 p.m.: As of Monday morning, all third-party ballot access cases pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court were resolved. The secretary of the commonwealth certified the November list of candidates Monday afternoon. It will still take counties some time to print ballots. Check the status of your county here.]
Counties also typically use outside companies to print their ballots, which means that even after the candidates are finalized and the ballot is proofread for accuracy, it will still take time for ballots to be printed and mailed to counties and voters.
“This process may still take several weeks after a certified list of candidates is available before ballots appear in voters’ mailboxes, and thus counties urge the courts to resolve the remaining objections as quickly as possible to help counties meet their goal of administering a smooth, fair and accurate election,” John Buffone, spokesperson for the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the courts did not respond to a request for comment when asked when voters could expect a decision on the challenges.
The Pennsylvania Department of State has set up a webpage where voters can keep track of the third-party ballot access cases that are delaying the ballots.
Voters should check with their individual county elections office for updated information on when ballots will be available in their county.
Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org.
