NBC10’s Pamela Osborne reports on the initial plans to get Pennsylvania up and running again after coronavirus shutdowns.
Registered voters in Pennsylvania are being encouraged to apply for mail-in ballots ahead of the June 2 primary election, Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday.
Nearly 500,000 have already done so, the governor said in a statement.
Voters already registered are able to apply online AT THIS LINK for mail-in ballots, and must do so by 5 p.m. May 26 in order to vote in the June 2 election. Pennsylvania does not have open primaries, which means that in order to vote for Democratic or Republican candidates, a voter must register as affiliated with one of those parties.
Pennsylvanians who are not yet registered to vote can do so AT THIS LINK.
The mail-in ballot is not required. Wolf said polling places will be open June 2. The election will come about a month after the state is expected to begin a phased re-opening May 8 due the the coronavirus pandemic. The state legislature last fall approved of mail-in ballots for state elections.
"There is no more important civic duty than voting, but we also want to make sure that every primary voter can cast their vote safely," Wolf said in a statement. "This election is the first time that voters have the option to vote by mail-in ballot and I encourage every Pennsylvania voter to visit votesPA.com to conveniently update their registration or apply for a mail-in ballot."
So far, 462,085 voters have applied for a mail-in ballot and 139,572 voters have applied for an absentee ballot, the state said.
Decision 2020
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