Editor's Note: The above video is from Oct. 12.
Cumberland and Dauphin County officials said Thursday that both counties will offer extended hours at ballot-return sites so that voters will have extra time to hand-deliver their mail-in or absentee ballots.
Voters in Cumberland County can hand-deliver their ballots to the County Bureau of Elections Office at 1601 Ritner Highway, Suite 201, Carlisle, from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 24, and during regular office hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) on Thursday, Oct. 29.
The extended hours will be from 4:30-8 p.m. on Oct. 29, the county said.
No additional voter services will be available during the extended hours.
In Dauphin County, voters can hand-deliver mail-in or absentee ballots at the Northern Dauphin Human Services Center at 295 State Drive in Elizabethville. Beginning Monday, Oct. 19, the NDHSC will offer extended hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through Election Day on Nov. 3.
The drop-off center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on those days, Dauphin County officials said.
On Tuesday and Thursday, the NDHSC ballot return site is open during normal business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The NDHSC is one of two ballot-return sites in Dauphin County.
“Since we opened the ballot return site in Elizabethville, about 35 people a day have taken advantage of the service,” said Commissioner Mike Pries, who oversees the county’s Voter Registration and Elections Office, in a press release. “As Election Day gets closer, we want to give voters more options to conveniently and safely cast their ballot.”
Trained county staff is on hand to accept completed ballots, Pries said. Voter registration and mail-in ballot request forms, although available for pickup and drop off, will not be processed onsite.
The county’s main elections office, located in the lobby of the Dauphin County Administration Building at 2 South Second Street in Harrisburg, also has extended hours on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for voters to pick up or return forms and ballots.
Voters who plan to drop off their ballots in person are reminded that, according to Pennsylvania election law, they may only return their own ballot.
“If you’re thinking of requesting a mail-in ballot, you have until October 27 to do so,” said Commissioner George P. Hartwick, III. “You can stop by one of our ballot return sites or make the request online at votespa.com.”
As of October 14, the office processed a total of 58,255 applications for absentee and mail-in ballots, of which 36,036 are Democrat and 15,379 are Republican.
The last day to register to vote prior to the election is Monday, Oct. 19.
The last day to apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot is Tuesday, Oct. 27. The deadline to receive a mail-in or absentee ballot is 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Postmarked ballots must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6.