Harrisburg, PA – Today, the Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced the newly redesigned election night returns (ENR) website will offer up-to-the-minute results from counties after the polls close on April 23. With the Department of State's revamped interface, voters will be able to navigate between the statewide results and county-level results in a more user-friendly and intuitive manner.
People who visit electionreturns.pa.gov can customize their searches, receive timely updates, view results on mobile devices, use a location-based service through the “My County" link to instantly bring up their county's election returns, and connect to each county's election results website.
“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."
The Department also implemented enhancements for ENR file processing to improve security and accuracy of the site results on election night. Updates to the file processing and formatting will allow for a smoother more efficient process for counties across the Commonwealth reporting their election-night returns to the Department of State. These updates were developed and successfully tested in conjunction with all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.
Schmidt noted that Pennsylvania's election laws do not currently allow counties to begin pre-canvassing mail-in and absentee ballots before 7 a.m. on Election 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, more than 876,000 Pennsylvania voters requested a mail-in or absentee ballot ahead of the primary election.
Other voting reminders
Pennsylvanians voting by mail-in or absentee 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 boards of elections to receivecompleted mail ballots is 8 p.m. on primary night. Mail ballots received after that time will not count, even if postmarked before 8 p.m. April 23.
Voters may return only their own mail ballot unless the voter has a disability and designates someone in writing to return it for them using the designation form on the Department of State website, or the voter requires an emergency absentee ballot.
Voters also have the option of voting in person at the polls on April 23, provided they have not already successfully voted by mail ballot. Polling places will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voters who received an absentee or mail-in ballot may vote in person on April 23 if they bring their unvoted mail ballot packet, including the outer return envelope, with them to be voided. After they surrender their ballot packet and sign a declaration, they can then vote on their county's voting system.
Voters who requested a mail ballot and did not receive it or do not have it to surrender may vote by provisional ballot at their polling place on April 23. The provisional ballot will be reviewed by their county board of elections after the primary to ensure that the voter did not successfully vote another ballot for the primary.
Voters appearing at a polling place for the first time will need to show proper identification, which may be either photo or non-photo ID.
Only voters registered as Democrats or Republicans may select nominees in the primary to represent their party in the Nov. 5 general election. However, on April 23, all registered voters, regardless of party affiliation, will be able to vote on any local ballot questions. Voters in the 139th Legislative District will also be able to vote in the special election for state representative in parts of Pike and Wayne counties.
For more information on voting and elections, 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.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Heckel, ra-st-press@pa.gov