Show Up Early PA

Vote Early In Person

Many counties in Pennsylvania allow you to vote early by casting a mail ballot in person at your county election board or satellite offices. This is a great option if you’re worried about making it to your polling place on Election Day! At a county election office or another officially designated site, you can request, complete, and submit your mail ballot in one visit.

What is the difference between a mail-in ballot and an absentee ballot?

There are two types of mail ballots in Pennsylvania.

Mail-In Voting

Mail-in ballots are for any eligible voter. You do not need an excuse or reason to request a mail-in ballot.

When you apply to be an annual mail voter, you are indicating that:

You want to receive a mail ballot for every election until the 3rd Monday in February of the following year. (You will automatically receive a mail ballot for any election during that period.)

AND

You would like your county board of elections to remind you to apply to vote by mail every year. By February, you will receive a paper request form for mail ballots for every election during that year or you can submit a request online. You must submit a request to vote by mail ballot every year that you wish to vote by mail.

To become an annual mail voter

Step 1: Submit a request online or by mail to receive ballots for the year

Request Online
‍
OR
‍
Download, Print and Mail a paper form
Mail-in ballot request: English | Spanish | Vietnamese | Chinese Simplified | Chinese Traditional

Step 2: Make sure to sign up to be an annual mail voter
Online:

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Paper form:

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Absentee Ballot

Voters who plan to be out of their municipality on Election Day or voters who have a disability or illness that prevents them from going to a polling place on Election Day.

Absentee ballot request: English | Spanish | Vietnamese | Chinese Simplified | Chinese Traditional

Other Important Information:

You must be a registered voter to submit an application. You may check whether you are registered to vote in Pennsylvania using:
Find Voter Registration Status

PRIMARY ELECTION NOTE: If you plan to vote using an absentee or mail-in ballot in the 2026 PRIMARY ELECTION held on 05/19/2026, your completed application must be received in the county office by 5pm 05/12/2026. The deadline to return your voted absentee or mail-in ballot is 8:00 PM on 05/19/2026.

GENERAL ELECTION NOTE: If you plan to vote using an absentee or mail-in ballot in the 2026 GENERAL ELECTION held on 11/03/2026, your completed application must be received in the county office by 5:00 PM on 10/27/2026. The deadline to return your voted absentee or mail-in ballot is 8:00 PM on 11/03/2026.

You can track the status of your ballot on PA Voter Services. If you provided your email address to your county election office at the time you registered to vote or applied for a ballot, you will receive an email notification when your returned ballot is recorded.

The Republican Party of Pennsylvania was founded on November 27, 1854, in the home of David Wilmot in Towanda, Pennsylvania. Wilmot gathered his friends — former Governor Simon Cameron, Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Colonel Alexander McClure, and former Governor Andrew Curtin — to form local Republican clubs in their home counties.

The first national convention was held in Pittsburgh on February 22, 1856. Later, party delegates held their first nominating convention at Philadelphia’s Musical Fund Hall on June 17, 1856. Two years later, on September 5, 1858, Pennsylvania’s Republican clubs met in Pittsburgh to form the state Republican Party.

In 1860, the Republican Party elected Andrew Curtin to the Governor’s office and gained control of the state Senate — which they did not relinquish for 30 years.

Of the 65 counties in the Commonwealth at that time, 64 were represented at the Pittsburgh Convention. David Wilmot served as the first Chairman of the Republican Party. In October of 1858, the Republican Party elected their first statewide official, John M. Reid, to the Supreme Court.

In 1959, George I. Bloom turned the Republican Party into a statewide organization with a new permanent headquarters in Harrisburg.