Tuesday is the last day to apply for a mail ballot. Here's what is settled, and what isn't

Pennsylvania voters who want to vote by mail in the Nov. 3 election have until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, to apply for a ballot, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said in an Oct. 14 Department of State release.

The deadlines

• Apply by 5 p.m. Oct. 27. You can apply online, by mail or in person at your county election office, Spotlight PA reported. You'll need a Pennsylvania driver's license number or the last four digits of your Social Security number.
• Vote in one trip. Through Oct. 27, you can go to your county election office, apply, get your ballot, fill it out and return it in one visit. Hours vary by county, the Department of State said.
• Return by 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Your county must receive the ballot by 8 p.m. on Election Day. A postmark doesn't count. You can mail it, hand it in at your county election office, or use a drop box in your own county, according to Spotlight PA.

As of Oct. 14, counties had approved about 1,134,000 mail ballot applications, and about 30% of those ballots had been returned, Schmidt said in the release.

Filling it out

Seal the ballot in the yellow inner secrecy envelope, put that inside the outer envelope, then sign and date the voter declaration on the outer envelope. The year is preprinted, so you write only the month and day, and you should not write your birth date, Spotlight PA advised. Whether counties must count ballots with a missing or wrong date is still in the courts, so Spotlight's advice is to date it correctly.

If you get a mail ballot but decide to vote in person, bring the whole packet to your polling place to surrender it. If you can't, you can vote a provisional ballot, according to Spotlight.

What's settled

A federal effort to change how the Postal Service handles mail ballots will not apply this year. The state's election fact-check page says the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the Postal Service rule and that "the law in Pennsylvania remains unchanged for the November 2026 election." Spotlight PA reported that the Postal Service will deliver ballots as usual this cycle.

What the records add

Under current law, counties can't start processing mail ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day, according to Rep. Scott Conklin's June news release. A bill to change that passed the House in June and has not moved since.

House Bill 37, from Conklin, a Centre County Democrat, would let counties begin "pre-canvassing" mail ballots up to a week before Election Day. That means processing ballots, not recording or publishing vote totals, according to the release. Conklin said more time "will significantly reduce delays in election returns."

• The House passed it 103-99 on June 9. Democrats voted 102-0 for it. Republicans voted 99-1 against; Rep. Thomas Mehaffie was the only Republican yes vote.
• All 23 co-sponsors listed on the bill page are Democrats.
• It was referred to the Senate State Government Committee on June 18 and has had no action in the 128 days since, according to its history.

The Senate calendar lists two voting days left this session, Nov. 17 and 18, both after the election. Any change would come too late for this year's count.

Where to check

Voters can check registration, find county election offices and track a mail ballot at vote.pa.gov, the Department of State says. Our earlier coverage of the federal court order halting DHS election field operations covers another dispute affecting this election.