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In Lycoming County, voters will be casting their ballots in Tuesday's midterm election for representatives at the state and national level as well as for governor and lieutenant governor. In Wolf Township there is also a question on the ballot to see if residents want to increase the size of the Board of Supervisors.
Although the date has passed for applying for a mail ballot, those who have received their ballots, but have not returned them, there are two options, according to Forrest K. Lehman, director of Voter Services, to try to get their ballot back to his office by 8 p.m. Election Day.
"They can drop it off in person at Voter Services. Otherwise, they can put it in the mail, and it probably would get here in time. But sometimes ballots are delivered in two or three days," Lehman said.
He added that sometimes it can take six days or more.
"There is no way to know for sure how long a trip through the mail will take for any particular piece of mail. There's a range of possibilities," he said.
If a voter chooses to cast their ballot in person, they should be aware that by state law they are only required to show identification in certain circumstances.
"The state election code requires that an acceptable form of either photo or non-photo ID must be shown if a voter is voting for the first time ever, or if they are voting in a new polling place for the first time," Lehman said.
"If they change addresses and it puts them in a different precinct, they're voting at a new polling place, and they would need to show an acceptable photo or non-photo ID the first time they vote in that new polling place," he explained.
When arriving at their precinct, voters should be aware that any political signs or people handing out political materials must be 10 feet from the polling place doors.
They should also note that any poll watchers, people who observe and monitor the election are permitted inside the polling place, but with restrictions.
"The watcher is allowed to be on the perimeter to observe the proceedings. They're allowed to be inside the polling place to observe the proceedings, but they cannot be in the middle of where the actual activities are occurring," Lehman explained.
If anyone has a problem on election day or has questions about anything, they can contact Lehman's office at: 570-327-2267.
Following the closing of voter registration last week, Lehman said that he had certified the number of people registered at just over 73,000, which he said is running about where it usually is.
"I'm not even sure that's as much as what we had earlier this year. Historically we've gone up a little bit because when I first came in in 2013, we were under 70,000 and kind of regularly stayed under 70,000. Then somewhere in the 2016 to 2020 period, we went over 70,000 and have been above it ever since," he said.
The number of mail-in ballots requested can also increase or decrease from year to year, depending on the type of election, such as local or midterm, he said.
"You can't really draw conclusions from that...so how does it compare to another midterm," he said.
"To say it went up or down from a local election year, it's not surprising that it went up from last year. But compared to prior midterms, well, the only other midterm we have to compare to post Act 77 is 2022. I think the mail in ballot numbers are lower than that," he added.
The state's Act 77, among other things, established that voters can vote by mail. It was signed into law in 2019.