The Department of State is committed to ensuring free, fair, safe, and secure elections in Pennsylvania.
Call our year-round voter hotline, 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772), if you experience problems in any of these areas:
- If voting rules may have been broken, report it to the judge of elections at your polling location. You can also report it to the Department through our election complaint form or contact your county elections office directly.
- If you need help voting because of a disability, ask a poll worker about accessible voting options.
- If you need language help, ask a poll worker for available language support.
- If there is a question about your eligibility to vote, you may ask to vote a provisional ballot. County election officials will review your provisional ballot after Election Day and decide whether it can be counted.
People Allowed Inside the Polling Place
The following people may be inside the polling place while voting is taking place:
- Precinct election officials.
These officials include the judge of elections the majority and minority inspectors, appointed clerks, and voting machine operators. - Voters who are voting.
No more than 10 voters may be in the voting area where the voting booths are located. Other voters must wait outside the area until they are allowed to enter. - People assisting voters.
A person may enter the polling place if they are legally allowed to assist a voter. - Poll watchers.
A political party or candidate may appoint a registered county voter as a poll watcher. Poll watchers observe voting at a polling place but are not allowed to approach voters or prevent a voter from voting. - Constables and deputy constables.
Constables and deputy constables may enter the polling place to keep the peace. Election officials may call other law enforcement officers when needed.
Law Enforcement
In general, police officers are not allowed inside a polling place. Uniformed and plain clothes officers must stay at least 100 feet away from the polling place entrance.
There are three exceptions:
- An officer may enter to vote.
- An officer may be present if the polling place is in a building that also contains a police station.
- An officer may enter if called to keep the peace, as outlined below.
When needed, local election officials or three voters from the precinct may ask local officials, including constables, sheriffs, or police officers, to:
- Clear a blocked path to the entrance so voters can enter.
- Maintain order.
- Stop a disturbance.
Campaign and Election Materials
Campaigning is not allowed inside a polling place.
Campaign workers, signs, and materials must stay at least 10 feet from the voting-room entrance.
Poll workers, poll watchers, and election officials should not wear clothing, buttons, or other items that support a political party or candidate.
These rules should not stop an eligible voter from voting. Voters may wear clothing, buttons, or hats that show support for a candidate when they enter the polling place to vote.
However, voters may not campaign for or encourage others to support a candidate while inside. The judge of elections should ask anyone who is campaigning to stop.
Voters may bring campaign literature into the polling place or voting booth to help them make their choices. They must take these materials with them when they leave.
Challenges to a Voter’s Right to Vote
Reasons for a challenge
If your name appears in the poll book, you are considered qualified to vote unless someone makes a valid challenge.
The following people may challenge a voter:
- Voters who are legally inside the polling place.
- Local election officials.
- Poll watchers.
- Overseers.
A challenge may be based only on the voter’s identity or residence. This means the challenger must believe that:
- The voter is not the person they claim to be, or
- The voter does not live in the precinct.
No one may challenge your voter registration at the polling place. Voter registration laws provide a separate challenge process that takes place before Election Day.
If your right to vote is challenged
If someone challenges your right to vote, the judge of elections must decide whether the challenge is based on evidence that relates to your identity or where you live.
A challenge cannot be used to delay voting, disrupt the election, or target you because of your personal characteristics.
Here is what will happen if your vote is challenged:
- The judge of elections will review the challenge.
The challenge must be based on evidence about who you are or where you live. It cannot be used to delay voting, disrupt the election, or target you based on race, national origin, appearance, last name, language, religion, or other protected characteristics.
- Reviewing the evidence.
The judge of elections will review the information about your identity and residence.
A residency challenge may only be upheld when there is evidence that you permanently moved out of state, and you cannot show that you still qualify to vote in the precinct.
Voters who recently moved within the county or state may vote one final time at their former polling place after confirming their new address. The voter’s registration will be updated to the new address.
- Confirming your identity and residence.
The judge of elections will ask you to confirm your identity and where you live. You must be allowed to vote normally if the judge of elections can confirm your identity and where you live.
- Another voter may confirm your information.
Another voter from your precinct may confirm who you are or where you live. That voter must sign a written statement called an affidavit.
Once the affidavit is signed, you must be allowed to vote normally.
- You may vote by provisional ballot.
A provisional ballot must be offered when you cannot or do not want to find another voter to sign an affidavit.