Voters in a bellwether suburban Philadelphia county courted heavily by the presidential candidates had their last chance Friday to apply for a mail-in ballot.
A court set a deadline of 5 p.m. for voters in Bucks County to apply for and receive a mail-in ballot.
The deadline is a three-day extension, granted in response to a lawsuit alleging that voters faced disenfranchisement when they were turned away by county application-processing offices that had closed. The suit was filed by the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the Republican National Committee and GOP Senate candidate David McCormick.
The deadlines and office closures led to long lines and confusion among some voters, who thought that, as in polling places on Election Day, they had the right to cast a ballot if they were in line by the poll closing time. But the county elections offices are not official polls, and officials had posted closing times as early as 2 p.m. on the weekend.
The Trump campaign lawsuit said people who were in line by Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline to apply in person for a mail ballot should have been allowed to get a ballot, even after the deadline. However, Bucks County’s election office denied voters that right and ordered them to leave, the lawsuit said.
Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Trauger ruled that the Board of Elections violated the state election code and ordered an extension through Friday.
Unlike other states, Pennsylvania doesn't have true early in-person voting. Voters can apply early for mail ballots online or in-person at county election buildings.
Doing so in person can take about 12 minutes and requires applying for a mail ballot, waiting for a bar-coded envelope to be printed and then, if voters wish, they can cast the ballot on the spot. Or they can put it in a drop box or a mail box. Election offices must receive the ballots by 8 p.m. on Tuesday; a postmark by that time isn't sufficient, according to the state.
No excuse mail-in voting is relatively new to Pennsylvania. The Legislature passed an expansion of the practice in 2019. In 2020, Trump — without any evidence to back the claim — said mail-in voting was rife with fraud, which discouraged many Republicans for voting by mail. That's changed this year, with Trump and billionaire business mogul Elon Musk endorsing the practice and calling on supporters to vote early by mail.
Pennsylvania is the biggest, most vote-rich battleground this year and has by far the most visits by Trump and Harris. The state went narrowly for Trump in 2016 before swinging to Biden in 2020. Bucks County voted for Hillary Clinton by a single point in 2016 before Biden widened the Democratic lead to five points in 2020.
Mike Catalini, The Associated Press
