17,101 approved applications are in "Pending" status awaiting ballot mailing. 31 ballots have been sent. Two voters cancelled their own applications.
Ballots are being returned. 7,509 of 18,612 sent have come back (37.3%). Democrats returning at 42.1%, Republicans at 33.8%. Primary is May 19.
| Municipality | Requested | Sent | Returned | Ret % | Dem | Rep | D % | R % | Split |
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| District | Requested | Sent | Returned | Ret % | Dem | Rep | D % | R % | Split |
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Pennsylvania runs closed primaries. If you are registered as No Affiliation, Independent, Libertarian, Green, or any party not on the primary ballot, you cannot vote in the primary.
763 declined apps came from No Affiliation voters. Another 198 from Independent. These are people who wanted to participate but cannot under current rules.
This is not fraud. This is the system working as designed. Whether that design makes sense is a different question.
Any registered voter can request a mail ballot. No excuse needed. Apply online at vote.pa.gov, by paper form, or in person at your county election office.
The county checks your registration, party affiliation, and ID. For primaries, you must be registered D or R. Approved or declined within days.
Once the county finalizes the ballot design, approved applicants get their ballot in the mail. You can also pick it up in person at the county office.
Mark your ballot. Seal it in the yellow secrecy envelope. Put that in the return envelope. Mail it or drop it off. Must be received by 8 PM Election Day.
What do the application methods mean?
Online (Verified) means the voter applied at vote.pa.gov and their identity was confirmed digitally using their PA driver's license or PennDOT ID number. Paper Mail-In means they submitted a paper application by mail or in person, and the county verified their identity manually by checking signatures and registration records. Both result in an approved ballot. Online is faster. Paper still leads in total volume.
Can anyone vote by mail?
Any registered PA voter can request a mail ballot. No excuse needed. But in a primary, you must be registered with a party on the ballot. PA has closed primaries.
What if I want to vote in person instead?
Bring your ballot and return envelope to your polling place. Surrender it, sign a declaration, vote a regular ballot. No ballot to surrender? You vote provisional.
What is the secrecy envelope?
The yellow inner envelope. Your ballot goes inside it before the return envelope. Skip this step and your ballot will not be counted. PA Supreme Court upheld this rule.
Do I have to date the envelope?
PA law requires signing and dating the outer envelope. This has been heavily litigated. As of now, ballots without a proper date may be set aside.
This data comes from the Pennsylvania Statewide Mail Ballot File, pulled daily from the SURE (Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors) system. It is a public record under the PA Election Code.
We show aggregate counts only. No individual voter names, addresses, or personal information appears on this page. The raw file includes voter info because it is a public election record, but we strip all of that before publishing.
County election offices record transactions in SURE at different intervals. Some do it in real time. Some do it in batches. That means you might see a big jump one day and a flat day after. That is normal. It does not mean something unusual happened.
This tracker updates daily through Election Day. Ballot return tracking is now live with municipality-level and district-level return rates. Democrats are returning ballots at 42.1% vs Republicans at 33.8%.