DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — On Friday, voters in a pivotal suburban county near Philadelphia had their final opportunity to request mail-in ballots. The deadline for submitting applications was set for 5 p.m. in Bucks County and followed a court’s decision to extend the original timeline by three days. This extension came about due to a lawsuit which claimed that voters were being disenfranchised when they faced obstacles from closed application-processing offices. The lawsuit originated from the campaign of Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, along with the Republican National Committee and Senate candidate David McCormick.
The abrupt deadlines and unexpected closures of county offices resulted in crowded lines and some confusion among voters. Many mistakenly believed that as long as they were in line by the time polls closed they could still cast their votes, similar to restrictions in polling places on Election Day. However, county election offices operate differently from official polling sites and had set their closing times as early as 2 p.m. over the weekend.
In Pennsylvania, true early in-person voting is not available, and voters can apply for mail ballots either online or at county election offices. The in-person application process typically takes around 12 minutes and requires voters to request a mail ballot followed by printing a bar-coded envelope. Once they receive their ballots, voters have the option to either cast them immediately onsite, drop them off at designated locations, or mail them. It’s essential that election offices receive completed ballots by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, as simply having a postmark by that time will not suffice according to state rules.
No-excuse mail-in voting is a relatively recent addition to Pennsylvania’s electoral process, having been enacted by the legislature in 2019. In 2020, Trump made unsubstantiated claims regarding widespread fraud in mail-in voting, which deterred many Republican voters from utilizing the mail-in option. However, this trend appears to have reversed this year, as both Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk have publicly supported mail-in voting and encouraged their followers to take advantage of early voting options.
This year’s elections highlight Pennsylvania as the largest and most significant battleground state, attracting considerable attention from candidates, particularly Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. In the previous elections, the state initially favored Trump in 2016 but switched to support Biden in 2020. Notably, Bucks County showed a narrow preference for Hillary Clinton by just one point in 2016, before Biden expanded the lead for Democrats to five points in the subsequent election.