ABOVE PHOTO: Residents line up outside the Montgomery County, Pa., Voter Services office, Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, in Norristown, Pa. Monday is the last day in Pennsylvania to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election in which the presidential battleground state is playing a central role in the contest between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
HARRISBURG – Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt is reminding Pennsylvanians that the deadline to register to vote in the April 23 primary is in a few weeks.
Ensuring that our elections are conducted freely and fairly, and that every eligible voter has the opportunity to cast their ballot, are top priorities of the Shapiro administration.
“It takes only a few minutes to register to vote, and I urge every eligible Pennsylvanian who is not yet registered to do so before the April 8 deadline,” Schmidt said. “Once you are registered, you can then exercise your fundamental right to vote and let your voice be heard in the upcoming primary election.”
To be eligible to vote in the April 23 primary, a person must be:
- A citizen of the United States for at least one month before the primary.
- A resident of the election district in which the person plans to register for at least 30 days before the primary.
- At least 18 years of age on or before the date of the primary.
Pennsylvanians who are already registered to vote can check their registration status online at: www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/Pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx. They can also update their voter record with any name, address, or party affiliation changes online at: www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/Pages/VoterRegistrationApplication.aspx.
Because Pennsylvania has a closed primary, only voters registered as Democrats or Republicans can vote for their party’s nominees in the primary election to appear on the ballot in the Nov. 5, 2024, general election. Eligible voters will have the opportunity to cast a ballot for their parties’ nominees for president, U.S. Representative, one U.S. Senate seat, state Attorney General, Auditor General, State Treasurer, all Pennsylvania House seats, and Pennsylvania Senate seats in odd-numbered districts. The department’s candidate database, located at: https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/ElectionInfo/electioninfo.aspx, lists all candidates currently on the ballot in the primary.
In addition to registering online, eligible Pennsylvanians can register by mail or in person at the following locations:
- their county voter registration office,
- county assistance offices,
- Women, Infants & Children (WIC) program offices,
- Armed Forces recruitment centers,
- county clerk of orphans’ courts or marriage license offices,
- area agencies on aging,
- county mental health and intellectual disabilities offices,
- student disability services offices of the State System of Higher Education,
- offices of special education in high schools,
- Americans with Disabilities Act-mandated complementary paratransit providers, and
- Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) photo and driver license centers. In September, the Shapiro administration launched automatic voter registration as part of its continued commitment to ensuring free, fair, and secure elections. All PennDOT photo and driver license centers offer automatic voter registration, which provides eligible Pennsylvanians with an integrated method for applying to register to vote or update their registration when they obtain a new driver’s license or ID card or renew their existing identification.
Registered voters can also request a no-excuse mail-in or absentee ballot online. Mail-in and absentee ballot applications must be received by a voter’s county elections board by 5 p.m. April 16. Voted mail-in and absentee ballots must be received by county election offices by 8 p.m. April 23.
The department’s voter information website, www.vote.pa.gov, is available in English, Spanish, and Chinese and offers voter registration applications, a polling place locator, and contact information for county elections offices. It also includes tips for first-time voters, mail-in and absentee voters, elderly and disabled voters, and members of the military.
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