If you encounter problems on Election Day, here's what to do next

ByHeather Grubola and Nydia Han

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Encountering problems on Election Day? Here's what to do next

Tuesday, November 5 is Election Day, the time to cast your votes to conclude the 2024 presidential race.

If you have a mail-in ballot, it's important to get it into a drop box by no later than 8 p.m. If you are voting in person, make sure you are in line by 8 p.m.

And if you encounter any issues at the polls, don't panic. There are resources to help you.

LIVE UPDATES | 2024 Election Day: What's going on in Philadelphia & the focus on Pennsylvania

Teams of people are in place to help make sure every vote is cast and accounted for.

"You know, we have one day to go and we're ready," said Lisa Deeley, the vice chair of the Philadelphia City Commissioners. "I think tomorrow is going to be awesome for Philly."

If you do encounter an issue at the polls -- such as a poll worker being unable to find your name or being told you need to vote elsewhere and you can't -- there are ways to get help.

"What I always tell people is just relax. If you're not able to go wherever they're sending you, don't leave. Just ask for a provisional ballot," said Deeley.

"If people have an issue at the polls, the overwhelming majority of them are going to be solved at the polls," added Adam Bonin, a Democratic election lawyer.

At each polling location, there will be a judge of elections as well as voter protection volunteers, like poll watchers and monitors.

If a problem like voter intimidation isn't resolved at the polls, anyone can go to election court at the Criminal Justice Center.

Free lawyers from both sides of the aisles will be on hand and judges will hear cases and issue orders promptly.

"If there are witnesses who have to testify, they're normally testifying off their smartphones on Zoom in the courtroom. There's no time to get people to show up physically in court to resolve matters and do justice," said Bonin.

If you've submitted a mail-in ballot, make sure there's no issue with it, like not signing the date or failing to use the secrecy envelope.

You can do that by calling 215-686-VOTE or by looking at a list posted online.

"To make sure that not only that they're not on it but that their friends, family, people they may know are not on it because there is still time to come in and get a replacement ballot and fix any flawed ballots," said Deeley.

Deeley does anticipate for Philadelphia that this will be a much calmer, quicker process than in 2020.

"We were in the grips of a global pandemic, we had never voted by mail with no excuse before in Pennsylvania," she said. "And our process has changed a lot since then. We have electronic poll books now and that process, which used to take days, has been reduced to hours."

Deeley is also reminding people that poll workers are your neighbors just trying to propel democracy on Election Day, so please be kind and patient.