Election 2022: Your guide to Pennsylvania's general election in Bucks County and Eastern Montco
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Election Day is fast approaching. Do you know who you're voting for?
All eyes are on Pennsylvania as voters choose a U.S. senator to replace retiring Republican lawmaker Pat Toomey, and the state's new governor.
The first general election since new legislative and congressional maps were drawn will also see voters choose who they'll send to Washington and Harrisburg in the new year.
To help you make informed decisions at the polls, the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer sent questionnaires to candidates running in the Pennsylvania election, asking them their stances on issues from abortion and gun control to voting rights and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Live coverage of Election 2022: Bucks County allowing voters to 'cure' mail-in ballots
As of Monday, Bucks County has 79,330 mail ballots returned out of 98,204 requested, according to the state. There are roughly 480,795 total voters in Bucks County as of the Oct. 24 deadline to register to vote in the midterm.
Read on to learn more about the races.
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Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz have been locked in a heated battle for Toomey's seat in the U.S. Senate. Democrat Fetterman has held a lead over Oz in the polls, while the Republican has hammered his opponent for ongoing health issues and his stance on crime.
Read on:Your guide to the candidates for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania
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FItzpatrick vs. Ehasz:Your guide to the race for U.S. Congress' 1st district
Who will represent Bucks, Montgomery counties in the General Assembly?
Redistricting has shaken up the Pennsylvania Legislature, and many voters in Bucks and Montgomery counties will see new names on the November ballots either because they're now located in different voting districts, or their current legislator is retiring.
Read on:Election 2022: Who you'll be voting for in Pennsylvania House, Senate races in Bucks and Montco
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What you need to know about voting in the Pennsylvania election
Election Day is Nov. 8. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
To check your registration status, or update your address, party affiliation or other information, visit vote.pa.gov.
Not registered? You can do so online before Oct. 24, or visit any county voter registration office, county assistance offices; Women, Infants & Children program offices; PennDOT photo and drivers’ license centers; Armed Forces recruitment centers; county clerk of orphans’ courts or marriage license offices; area agencies on aging; county mental health and intellectual disabilities offices; student disability services offices of the State System of Higher Education; offices of special education in high schools; and Americans with Disabilities Act-mandated complementary paratransit providers.
How do I vote by mail?
Despite challenges to Pennsylvania's mail-in ballot expansion, the opportunity to vote by mail still exists.
Registered voters can request a mail-in or absentee ballot online. Applications must be received by a voter’s county election board by 5 p.m. Nov. 1. "On demand" mail ballots also are available at Bucks County election offices in Doylestown, Quakertown and Bristol, or in the Montgomery County Voter Services office in Norristown.
If you voted by mail in the last election cycle, in 2021, you need to re-apply for a mail ballot.
Completed mail ballots must be received by county election offices by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Postmarks do not count.
If taking advantage of a ballot drop-box, note that you can only deposit your own completed ballot. If you're unable to drop off or mail your ballot, you can fill out an authorized designated agent form allowing someone else to do it for you.
If you have a mail ballot but decide to vote in person, bring the entire ballot, including security envelope, to the polls. If you don't have the mail ballot but still show up to the polls to vote in person anyway, you'll be able to cast a provisional ballot. But counting your ballot could be delayed until it's determined you didn't also vote by mail.
Bucks County announced it would open its first three drop boxes on Monday, Oct. 17. They are:
Upper Bucks Government Services Center, 261 California Road, Quakertown. 8 a.m. to 4 :30 p.m. weekdays
Lower Bucks Government Services Center, 7321 New Falls Road, Levittown. 8 a.m. to 4 :30 p.m. weekdays
County Administration Building, 55 E. Court St., Doylestown. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays
These locations will also be open noon to 5 p.m. on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5.
"Ballot drop boxes will open in the coming weeks at 11 locations throughout the county, including three boxes at county government buildings opening Oct. 17. Drop boxes will open the week of Oct. 24 at eight libraries located throughout the county," according to a news release.
County library locations that open Oct. 24 are:
Bensalem Library, 3700 Hulmeville Road.
Bristol Borough Hall, 250 Pond St.
New Hope Library, 93 W. Ferry St.
Northampton Library, 25 Upper Holland Road, Richboro.
Perkasie Library, 491 Arthur Ave.
Riegelsville Library, 615 Easton Road. Open until 5 p.m.
Warminster Library, 1076 Emma Lane
Yardley-Makefield Library, 1080 Edgewood Road
Hours vary at the library locations.
All drop boxes are supervised by a Board of Elections employee while the boxes are in operation. Ballots are collected from the boxes at least once per day, and returned to the main Board of Elections Office in Doylestown where they remain secured and unopened until 7 a.m. Election Day, officials said.
Voters may only return their own ballot unless they have been authorized as a designated agent for another voter.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pennsylvania Voters Guide 2022: What you need to know at the polls
