Pa. Secretary of State votes early in Doylestown, Bucks County
DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- "I voted!"
That's what Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, who oversees elections in Pennsylvania, exclaimed Friday morning
Boockvar was at the Board of Elections Office in Doylestown voting early by mail, along with Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia.
"It's never been so easy and so secure to vote in Pennsylvania," Boockvar told reporters afterwards.
And a lot of people plan to do so.
As of Thursday, more than 2.5 million Pennsylvanians had already applied to vote by mail.
Voters must make sure they don't return a "naked ballot" or else their vote will be disqualified.
RELATED: 'Naked ballots' in Pa. could be election wild card
"It's critical. For every vote to be counted. You need to make sure it's in the secrecy envelope and that you've signed the outside of the outer envelope," Boockvar explained.
Expecting the influx of mail-in ballots, Bucks County has purchased a new mail sorter to expedite the process before counting begins on Election Day.
"The machinery we have inside will help us open and get everything ready to be counted much, much, much quicker than we had in the spring," Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie said.
Bucks County Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo emphasized that the state needs to allow pre-canvassing so results can be determined more quickly.
"Any extra days we get before election to open the envelopes, take the ballots out, and be able to scan, I think it's important to remember we're not going to count them," DiGirolamo explained.
He added, "I think the eyes of the country are going to be on Pennsylvania."
The deadline to request a ballot by mail is October 27, but the earlier you can get this completed the better.
RELATED: Need to register to vote? Deadlines fast approaching
