Less than 30% of Philly mail voters have returned their ballots. What to do if you still have yours.
Mail ballots were sent to voters in Philadelphia later than usual. It could mean fewer voters return their ballots.
With just days until Philadelphia’s primary election, which features a closely watched Democratic primary for district attorney, fewer than a third of voters who requested a mail ballot have returned them.
Typically, about 80% of voters who request a mail ballot in Philadelphia return that ballot in time for it to be counted. But as of Thursday evening, only 28% of the city’s roughly 74,000 mail voters had returned their ballots, said City Commissioner Seth Bluestein, a Republican.
Voters have until Tuesday evening to return their ballots to ensure they’re counted in the primary.
The potentially low return rate likely reflects that mail ballots went out later for the primary than they normally would, giving voters less time to receive, review, and submit their ballots. Legal challenges to candidacies dragged late into the election cycle this year, preventing the city from mailing its ballots until just two weeks before the election.
Here’s what to know if you still have your mail ballot:
When do ballots need to be returned?
The deadline to return mail ballots in Pennsylvania is 8 p.m. on Tuesday. This means ballots must be physically in election offices or drop boxes. Even if a ballot is in the mail by election day it will not be counted unless it is delivered by 8 p.m.
How should voters return ballots?
This close to the election officials encourage voters to return their mail ballots in person to an election office or ballot drop box as the U.S. Postal Service may not deliver the ballot on time.
In Philadelphia voters can return their ballots to any of Philadelphia’s 10 satellite election offices between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Philadelphia’s primary election office at City Hall is also available to voters from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and over this weekend before the election.
Voters can also drop off ballots at dozens of drop boxes anytime.
A list of drop box and office locations is posted here.
How do I know if my ballot has arrived?
Voters can track the status of their mail ballot to ensure it has arrived using the Pennsylvania Department of State ballot tracker.
The Philadelphia City Commissioners have also identified hundreds of ballots that may not be counted because of flaws including missing signatures, dates, and voter ID information. Voters can check the commissioners’ website to verify that their ballot is not on that list.
What if I’d rather vote in person?
Voters who requested a mail ballot but did not return it can still cast a ballot in person on election day.
To vote at your polling place on an election machine, voters must bring their unreturned mail ballot and return it to election staff in order to be allowed to vote in person.
Voters who do not bring their unreturned mail ballot to a polling place will be allowed to vote on a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are still valid but they are counted last, after election workers confirm those voters are eligible and only cast one ballot.