Over 800,000 mail ballots requested in Pennsylvania
(WHTM) – Over 800,000 people have requested mail ballots for Pennsylvania’s April 23 primary.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, there have been 808,474 mail ballot requests as of 8 a.m. on April 3.
Thus far, nearly 74% of requested mail ballots (597,252) have been from registered Democrats. More than 200,000 have been requested by Republicans thus far with 20 days left to return them to your county election office.
Allegheny County (by far) has the most mail ballot requests with 92,545. Philadelphia, Bucks, and Montgomery each have more than 40,000 requests.
As of 8 a.m., more than 3,600 ballots have been returned.
In addition, nearly 7,800 “other” ballots have been approved for third party voters despite Pennsylvania having a closed primary and third parties not having candidates in April.
abc27 asked the Department of State about the “other” ballots and was told “while voters who are registered as Independent or with another party cannot vote to select political party nominees, they can vote on statewide or local ballot questions and special elections.”
There are no statewide ballot initiatives in April and the Department of State says voters should contact their local boards of elections for information on ballot questions.
The state will provide updated numbers daily for applications received and mail ballots returned leading up to the primary.
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This Week in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania voters can request either a mail-in or absentee ballot as long as they are qualified and registered to vote. Mail-in ballots can be requested without reason and absentee ballots are for those with a disability, illness, or plans that prevent them from voting in-person.
The deadline to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is 5 p.m. on April 16 and all ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on April 23.
The deadline to register to vote is April 8.
Check Your Registration Status to review your registration information.
As of April 1, there are more than 8.7 million registered voters in Pennsylvania: 3,891,921 are Democrats; 3,492,427 are Republicans; 979,871 have no affiliation; 342,875 are listed as “other.”
Nearly 40,000 new voter registration applications have been received in 2024 and more than 47,000 voters have changed their party registration, according to the Department of State.
Over 16,000 Democrats have changed their party registration to Republican and about 4,700 Republicans have changed their party registration to Democrat.
More than 2.6 million people voted in Pennsylvania’s 2022 primary election.
If you have any questions, call 1.877.VOTESPA (1.877.868.3772).
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
