Changed Your Mind About Mail-In Voting? Take Your Ballot to the Polling Place

To the Editor:

In Pennsylvania, more than 2 million people have requested mail-in ballots. If those voters decide not to return their ballot by mail but to go vote in person at the poll instead, they will be refused unless they’ve brought their ballot and the envelope it came in with them to the polling place.

If they’re savvy enough to ask for a provisional ballot, they’ll be able to cast that, but doing so will gum up the works, slow down lines, and deter others from voting.

It is, of course, completely counterintuitive that you would need to bring your ballot and its envelope to the polling place on election day, since you’ll be picking up a ballot there. Most people will toss it out or not bring it.

Pa. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s message is twofold: Stop panicking people by telling them that mail-in ballots won’t count. And if you’re in Pennsylvania, just follow the instructions and mail your ballot in, or, if you want, drop it off early at the county board of elections. Simple. That’s it. Don’t panic.

And stop panicking other people just for the “Likes” and shares on social media.

“They want to create whatever chaos they can, in whatever locations they can. And if you are feeding into that, you are helping them advance their agenda,” Lt. Gov. Fetterman warned.

If you’re determined to vote in person on Election Day, just remember to take your absentee ballot and the envelope with you.

George Dempsie

Williamsburg