Hoping to vote by mail but haven't requested your ballot? Today is the deadline to apply

Michele Haddon, Bucks County Courier Times
·2 min read
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Three Ballot Drop Boxes at the Upper and Lower Bucks Government Service Centers and the County Administration Building will open October 16, 2023. The eight additional drop boxes, located at libraries around the county, will open the week of October 23, 2023.
Three Ballot Drop Boxes at the Upper and Lower Bucks Government Service Centers and the County Administration Building will open October 16, 2023. The eight additional drop boxes, located at libraries around the county, will open the week of October 23, 2023.

If you were planning to vote by mail-in or absentee ballot, but haven’t gotten around to requesting yours yet, the good news is there’s still time — but only a few hours.

Today, Oct. 31, is the deadline to apply for it ahead of this year’s municipal election.

Here’s how:

Applications can be completed online or in-person

Registered voters may request a mail-in or absentee ballot online or in-person through the county’s “on-demand” mail-in voting program.

How to apply online

Registered voters can apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot online.

Once on the county website, select either absentee or mail-in ballot. Then click on the corresponding online registration link, which will bring you to the online application.

How to apply in-person

Mail-in ballot guides sit in a stack at the Bucks County Board of Elections office, in Doylestown Borough, on Wednesday, August 30, 2024.
Mail-in ballot guides sit in a stack at the Bucks County Board of Elections office, in Doylestown Borough, on Wednesday, August 30, 2024.

Registered voters can apply in-person at the following Bucks County Board of Elections locations:

  • In Central Bucks: 55 E. Court St., Doylestown. Open until 5 p.m.

  • In Upper Bucks: Satellite office, 261 California Road, Quakertown. Open until 4:30 p.m.

  • In Lower Bucks: Satellite office, 7321 New Falls Road, Levittown. Open until 4:30 p.m.

Voters who apply in person receive their ballot immediately upon submitting their application and have the option to complete and return their ballot directly to a Board of Elections employee.

What’s the deadline to cast a mail-in ballot?

All mail-in ballots must be received by the county’s Board of Elections by 8 p.m. on Nov. 7. Postmarked mailed envelopes received after that deadline will not be counted.

Voters who have not sent in their mail-in ballots and are concerned they will miss the deadline can hand deliver their own ballot to one of multiple drop box locations around the county.

A full list of 11 drop box locations and hours of operation are available on the county’s website. All drop boxes will be open until 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.

What happens if I don’t apply on time for my mail-in ballot?

If a registered voter does not apply on or before Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 5:00 p.m. for a mail-in ballot, they must vote in-person on election day at their local polling place on Nov. 7.

For those who vote in person, polling places open at 7 a.m. on Election Day, and remain open until 8 p.m. or until the last voter in line has voted. Click here to find your polling place.

More information on voting:

Anyone with questions about their ballot, or about voting in Bucks County can contact the Board of Elections at 215-348-6514.

Learn more at BucksCounty.gov/Elections.

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Deadline today to apply for mail-in voting for 2023 municipal election