Philadelphians warned as deadline to apply for mail-in ballot closes in

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia City Commissioner Lisa Deeley is warning people who still want to vote by mail to get their request in before the Tuesday deadline.

"If you don't have to wait until the last minute, you shouldn't wait until the last minute," Deeley explained.

That means the request must be received by your county commissioner's office by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Pennsylvania currently does not have early voting, it would take a law to change that.

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Many, however, are casting their ballots by mail-in votes. They are doing it in person at a county commissioner's office or in satellite offices.

"We're requesting, filling it out, and handing it in just to be sure everything is in. Nothing can happen on Election Day that's unforeseen," said Robert Durso of Fairmount, who voted by mail.

States that have early voting tabulate the votes. In Pennsylvania, all ballots -- including mail-in and absentee -- are not allowed to be counted until Election Day.

Frank Barrett told Action News that he did not like how long his mail-in ballot took in 2020.

"We did that in 2020 and it took 8 days for it to be counted. We did it by mail," said Barrett, who came to vote via a mail-in ballot.

The application deadline to request mail-in ballots is due by October 29 at 5 p.m. You can put a mail-in ballot in the mail as long as it reaches your county office by Election Day by 8 p.m.

Or, you can drop it off at a drop box, county commissioner's office, or satellite office.

More than 60% of people in our region have returned their mail-in ballots, according to the 6abc data team.

Mail-in ballots with mistakes or ones that were undeliverable can be fixed.

There is a list at the commissioner's office of people who wrote mistakes on their ballots. Anyone who needs to fix a ballot can go in person to take care of it.

"If you are waiting for a mail-in ballot to come and you haven't applied for one, you're not going to get one. If you are someone who anticipates getting a ballot and you haven't received it, then check and make sure you applied," Deely advised.