Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D. PA) Provides All The Information You Need To Vote Safely In Pennsylvania

 Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D. PA)

today from U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr. (D. PA) regarding election information in Pennsylvania:

Explaining secrecy envelopes, and other information you need to vote safely this fall

Tuesday, November 3 is the day of the general election, but voting has already begun in Pennsylvania. Voting is a pillar of our democracy and part of our civic duty as American citizens, so I want to make sure you have the resources you need to vote, vote early and vote safely. No matter who you plan to vote for, you can help PA elections run smoothly and make sure your voice is heard by making a plan right now for how you're going to vote.

Register to vote: You can register to vote online, by mail, in person at your county voter registration office or at PennDOT and select other government agencies. If you're not sure if you've already registered, check your registration status today. The deadline to register to vote for the current election cycle is Monday, October 19.

Voting in person: You can vote in person at an assigned polling place near where you live, open 7 AM to 8 PM on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. If your name is not in the voter roster, you may have the right to vote on a provisional ballot. Poll workers will be available to assist with any questions or concerns on Election Day.

·        The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance for safely voting in-person during COVID-19, including: wash your hands before and after, bring and use hand sanitizer, wear a mask, continue social distancing, bring your own blue/black ink pen and vote at off-peak hours such as mid-morning.

Voting by mail: Voting by mail is a safe, secure and legal way for Americans to practice their constitutional right to vote. Any qualified voter may apply for a mail-in ballot. Tuesday, October 27 is the deadline to request your mail-in or absentee ballot. To ensure your ballot is counted, don't wait to send your ballot in, as ballots must be postmarked by 8 PM on Tuesday, November 3 and received by your county election office by 5 PM on Friday, November 6. If you are concerned about USPS delays in delivering mail-in or absentee ballots, you can drop off your ballot at your county election office.

·        IMPORTANT: Be sure to double-check all deadlines at VOTESPA.com to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information. You also must carefully follow the directions on your mail-in or absentee ballot, or your vote will not be counted. This includes marking your ballot in blue or black pen, sealing your ballot in the inner secrecy envelope that says "official ballot" and then placing it in the outer return envelope, sealing it and signing it.

No matter who you plan to vote for, your vote matters. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact my office online or call your local office in Pennsylvania, and we will respond as quickly as possible. For additional resources, visit votespa.com or call 1-877-VOTESPA.

Sincerely,

Bob Casey

Hope this information was helpful. Please do click any of the links above to register to vote, check your registration, or provide you with other information.

This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member.

Make YOUR voice heard!

Login or create an account.

World Gorilla Day

 

Our gorillas need our help. On this year’s World Gorilla Day, we ask that you consider supporting our movement to save animals facing extinction (and how you can help us keep these wonderful animals safe). There are about 1,000 mountain gorillas remaining. The time to save them from extinction is running out RAPIDLY. Help Us Save Animals Like Gorillas From Extinction → We wrote to you recently with some very, very bad news: Gorilla protection programs are being cut in Africa due to COVID-19’s impact on the global tourism industry. This leaves more and more gorillas susceptible to poaching, like Uganda’s famous mountain gorilla Rafiki (who was recently murdered). Additionally, the COVID-19 virus threatens our gorillas directly. While no mountain gorillas have become sick yet, they do share 98% of our DNA and have caught respiratory illnesses from humans in the past. Poaching and the clearing of forest habitats have pushed the gorilla closer and closer to extinction — it’s now time for us to step up and get to work saving this amazing animal. On this World Gorilla Day, the stakes are higher than ever. So, paul, will you join our movement to save the gorilla? Help Us Save Animals Like Gorillas From Extinction → We’re fighters that don’t give up. Together, we’re going to save gorillas, -- Save Animals Facing Extinction

This message was sent to: paul@tabularosa.net Click here to receive fewer emails. | Click here to unsubscribe.

Contributions or gifts to Save Animals Facing Extinction are not tax deductible as charitable contributions or as business expenses. P.O. Box 14494 Seattle, WA 98114 PAID FOR BY SAVE ANIMALS FACING EXTINCTION This message was sent to: paul@tabularosa.net | Change or update your email address by clicking here. Thank you for supporting Save Animals Facing Extinction. Your unwavering support helps fight back against poachers and ultimately win the race against extinction. If you would like more ways to keep in touch and stay involved please consider following us on Facebook and Twitter.  Your support allows us to make an impact in saving endangered animals. Funds raised will be used to support ballot measures, lobbying efforts, and other advocacy activities in support of laws protecting endangered species. For information about our state required disclosures, please click here. If you'd like to receive fewer emails, you can click here. If you'd like to unsubscribe from our emails, click here. If you'd like to donate to help fund our efforts to save animals facing extinction, please  click here. From the entire Save Animals Facing Extinction team, thanks for your support!

Important mailin voting information

 

 

Once a rarity, ballot tracking is now available in most states.Nicholas Little / for NBC News

Breaking News Emails

Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

SUBSCRIBE

Sept. 23, 2020, 12:00 PM EDT

By Kevin Collier

Forty-six states have quietly adopted a free way for every voter to track their ballot this year, a potential rebuttal to fears that voting by mail is inherently risky.

Ballot-tracking systems, a first for most states this presidential election, are a potential way to combat Americans' growing distrust in election results in general and the accuracy of voting by mail in particular.

For most states, it's a simple online lookup that shows simple fields for each voter's ballot, like whether it's been sent or received, according to a tally from the National Vote at Home Institute, a nonprofit that advocates allowing Americans to vote without having to visit a polling site.

Five states, plus several hundred counties, go further. They offer a service that marks every voter's envelope with a unique barcode like a shipped package and lets them receive updates via text message or email every step of the way.

That's a sharp increase from 2016, when only a handful of states allowed ballot tracking of any sort.

"With all the misinformation on mail ballots, we've got to deal with the inaccurate information out there," said Amber McReynolds, the National Vote at Home Institute's CEO and a former director of elections for Denver, which pioneered such a system.

 

Plan your vote: What you need to know about mail-in voting

Sept. 18, 202001:35

"Not only does it notify that your ballot's been accepted, it notifies you if your ballot has a problem," she said. "That instant notification is helpful, and it streamlines the administrative process."

Many states are experiencing an unparalleled surge in mailed ballots, thanks in large part to the trend of states allowing voters to vote absentee because of the coronavirus pandemic. But that surge has been accompanied by increased concerns about whether voting by mail is safe and accurate. Fewer than half of American voters are confident the 2020 vote count will be accurate, an August NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found — a sharp drop from 2016 — and a majority say that mailed votes won't be counted accurately.

Top government officials have contributed to that uncertainty. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Republican donor who started in June, quickly implemented cost-cutting moves to the U.S. Postal Service, then reversed them in August amid lawsuits that alleged they could result in unreliable ballot delivery. And President Donald Trump has repeatedly instructed followers in North Carolina and elsewhere to vote twice — both by mail and in person — an illegal act that can potentially bring criminal charges.

Karen Brinson Bell, the top election official in North Carolina, said she was grateful her state had already instituted a ballot tracking program when Trump made those comments.

specials

PLAN YOUR VOTE: How to vote by mail and register to vote in each state

"We didn't have a crystal ball that these things would be said or be called into question. When a voter has doubts, we feel fortunate these things were already put into place," she said. "For the first time in history, they can see their absentee mail ballot from the start to finish."

North Carolina is one of four states that use a program called BallotTrax statewide, which lets eligible voters sign up online to receive emails, texts or voicemails telling them when their ballot reaches one of four stages: printed, mailed, received and counted. Some BallotTrax states, like Colorado, automatically register voters who have registered their email addresses with the secretary of state's office.

In Michigan, which Trump previously falsely claimed was sending ballots to voters who didn't request them and threatened to withhold federal funding before encouraging voters to vote by mail there, voters can check the status of their ballot against the state's database.

Virginia, as well as a number of scattered counties, use a similar program called Ballot Scout that gives voters the option to get updates by text or email.

Even as Election Day looms, McReynolds said that she's talked to states that are still considering adding such a system, which she says is also a smart investment.

"The reason we designed it in Denver is when we started to see a big increase in people requesting their ballots, the main calls into our office were, 'Did you get my ballot?' and 'When is it coming?'" she said.

"I'd rather not have 50 people staffing our phone bank asking that question."

Vote

 

Paul, Voting is a core principle of being American, but to exercise this basic right, we must be registered to vote! That’s why the Economic Policy Institute is a proud partner and supporter of National Voter Registration Day, which happens to be today. And you can be part of this amazing day! Register to Vote Online: It’s simple, it’s free and it’s secure. If online voter registration is not available in your state or if it doesn’t work for you, you can easily start the process online no matter where you live. Spread the word: Once you make sure you’re registered, forward this email to a friend, ask them to join you and use #NationalVoterRegistrationDay and #VoteReady in all of your social media posts. Get #VoteReady: Already registered? Even better! If you want to vote by mail this year, request your ballot today. Or take 10 minutes now to learn more about what’s on the ballot, where your polling station is and other ways to get involved ahead of Election Day. Sign up to be a poll worker: go.aflcio.org/ptp Thanks for taking a few moments to strengthen your community, and our country, with your voice. In solidarity, Eve Tahmincioglu Director of Communications, Economic Policy Institute   REGISTER TO VOTE