Harrisburg, PA – Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt reminded Pennsylvanians today that the Department of State’s election night returns website will again offer up-to-the-minute results from counties after the polls close on May 20.
“Our election night returns website will provide voters, candidates, and members of the media with a resource to find the most comprehensive picture of how Pennsylvanians voted,” Schmidt said. “The Department will post unofficial results on the site as we receive reports from each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties after the polls close at 8 p.m.”
Visitors to electionreturns.pa.gov will be able to navigate between the statewide results and county-level results in a user-friendly and intuitive manner. They can also customize their searches, receive timely updates, and connect to each county’s election results website.
Schmidt reminded Pennsylvanians that state election laws do not currently allow counties to begin pre-canvassing mail ballots before 7 a.m. on Primary Day, so the public must be patient as county elections officials diligently count every vote.
“While we know everyone will be eager to know the results, ensuring each vote is accurately and securely counted is the top priority,” Schmidt added.
To date, 798,083 mail ballot applications have been approved ahead of the primary, Schmidt said.
Other voting reminders
Pennsylvanians voting by mail ballot should return their completed ballot as soon as possible. With Primary Day less than a week away, Schmidt highly recommends that voters hand-deliver their mail ballot to their county elections office or a drop box site, if possible.
The deadline for county elections offices to receive completed mail ballots is 8 p.m. on Primary Day. Mail ballots received after that time will not count.
Voters may return only their own mail ballot unless the voter has a disability and designates someone in writing to return it for them or the voter requires an emergency absentee ballot.
Voters also have the option of voting in person at the polls between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on May 20. Voters appearing at a polling place for the first time will need to show proper identification.
Voters who received a mail ballot and prefer to vote in person instead may do so on May 20 if they bring their mail ballot materials, including the outer envelope, with them and surrender the materials.
Voters who requested a mail ballot but do not receive it or do not have it to surrender may vote by provisional ballot at their polling place on May 20.
Because Pennsylvania has a closed primary, only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote for their party’s nominees in the primary election. However, all voters can vote on any of the following if they also appear on the ballot:
- a constitutional amendment question,
- a ballot question, or
- a special election in their district.
For more information, visit vote.pa.gov or call the Department of State’s year-round hotline, 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772), which offers information and interpretation services in more than 200 languages.