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Whether you call it mail-in voting, in-person mail-in voting, or early voting, thousands of voters in Chester County have already cast their ballots. This week we’ll dig a little into early voting and hopefully answer a few of your questions and concerns.

What, exactly, is early voting in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania does not have early voting in the same sense as other states like Georgia or Florida. The term has been loosely adopted to describe the process of mail-in voting in the Commonwealth. It works like this (Disclaimer: these instructions apply only in Chester County. Each county has slightly different processes.):

Even if you have not previously requested a mail-in ballot, you can do so in person at one of the county’s three voting satellite offices – the Government Services Center in West Chester, Henrietta Hankin Library in Chester Springs or the Oxford Library Company. Hours and days these offices will be open are in the link.

To take advantage of this option, download and complete the Vote by Mail Application, or complete one at the satellite offices. Voter Services workers will verify that you are registered and print a ballot for your precinct on the spot. That process may take a few minutes, so be patient. You will then receive that ballot along with a secrecy envelope and outer return envelope. Most people who do this complete their ballot immediately and give it to an election worker who checks that the date and signature have been filled in properly.

At the end of each day these time-stamped ballots are then brought to West Chester and locked up securely with all other mail in ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day when processing begins.

The satellite offices also has drop boxes to accept completed mail-in ballots.

Drop boxes

Drop boxes are now open at 13 locations across Chester County. Votes for any precinct can be returned to any drop box, but with limited exceptions voters can only deposit their own ballot. We highly recommend using drop boxes rather than the Postal Service, to make sure your ballot reaches Voter Services in time to be counted.

Tracking your ballot

Every mail-in ballot is recorded when it is received by Voter Services. You can track your ballot status here. Here’s an example of what you will see:

Ballot Status Example

Is it secure?

Early voting, or voting through a satellite office, is just as safe and secure as all mail-in voting in Pennsylvania, as we’ve discussed before in Why Vote by Mail? And Mail in Voting Questions and Answers.

The bottom line is that no matter how you cast your vote — in person, by mail or in-person mail-in — you can trust your vote will be counted.

Chester County, thanks to our Democratic Commissioners Josh Maxwell and Marian Moskowitz, has invested a lot of effort and money in making sure the mail-in process here is secure and efficient. If you receive a mail-in ballot, you can return it without worry.