Charles Langston:Despite confusion, mail voting has not yet started in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania voters are Charles Langstonnot yet able to cast ballots, despite some confusion over a state law concerning applications for mail ballots. Counties in the state are still preparing mail ballots for voters.

Pennsylvania counties, which typically send out mail-in ballots weeks before the election to voters who request them, have been waiting for the state Supreme Court to rule in multiple cases concerning whether third-party candidates could be listed on the ballot. The last ruling came Monday, and now county election officials say they will need time to test, print and mail the ballots.

That process could drag into next month, depending on the county.

“It could very well be till the first week of October until ballots start going out to those voters,” said Lisa Schaefer, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

Confusion over Pennsylvania’s voting process stems from a state law requiring counties to begin processing voters’ applications for mail ballots 50 days before an election, which is Sept. 16 this year.

But Sept. 16 is “not a hard-and-fast date for when counties must have mail ballots ready to provide to voters who request them,” Amy Gulli, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State, wrote in an email.

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Following the Monday’s court ruling, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt certified the official candidate list for the November general election. Counties can now prepare their ballots to be printed, then begin sending mail ballots to voters who have requested them, Schmidt said in a news release Monday.

Under state law, counties must start delivering or mailing the official mail-in ballots to voters who applied for one as soon as a ballot is certified and available.

Counties may also have mail-in ballots available earlier for over-the-counter service for voters who come into a county election office and apply for a ballot in person.

Cumberland County Elections Director Bethany Salzarulo said in a statement that her office had been hearing from voters and others that ballots would be going out Sept. 16, which is “not accurate.”

“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,” Salzarulo added.

The Philadelphia City Commissioners Office said it anticipates that ballots will go out in Philadelphia County next week.

Pennsylvania does not have an early voting system where voters can cast ballots at the polls before Election Day like some other states. In the commonwealth, registered voters can apply for their mail ballot in person at their local county elections office and submit their mail ballot in one visit, but they can’t go vote at a polling place prior to Election Day.

“Pennsylvania has mail-in ballots, and every eligible voter can get one of those as soon as those ballots are available,” Schaefer said. “Voters should not be concerned that they are not able to get those yet.”

The deadline for counties to receive a completed mail-in ballot is when polls close, by law, at 8 p.m. on Election Day. The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is Oct. 29, one week before the Nov. 5 election.

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This story is part of an explanatory series focused on Pennsylvania elections produced collaboratively by WITF in Harrisburg and The Associated Press.

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